


Different Setting

by AWriterWithMixedInterests



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game), The Walking Dead (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-21
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2018-06-09 20:22:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 22
Words: 42,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6921928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AWriterWithMixedInterests/pseuds/AWriterWithMixedInterests
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU - What if Carlos and Sarah had met the motor inn group during the events of Season 1? Would there be any major changes? And who will be left in the end? *Co-written in 2014 with heidipoo*</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Enter: Carlos and Sarah

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a FanFiction work that I wrote with a friend of mine, Heidi, back in late 2014 and early 2015 that became pretty successful. We switched every few lines, so the writing style may look alternated on occasions. As said in the summary, this is a work in which Carlos and Sarah appear in Season One as opposed to Season Two, and will be meeting the other characters a couple of chapters in the story. Please enjoy! This work of fiction will be updated regularly.
> 
> Also, a quick note: Since this is an alternate universe fanfic, the fates of some characters may change, or they will die at a later time.

Three months. That was the amount of time that had passed since this whole apocalypse mess began. The lives of Carlos and his recently turned thirteen-year-old daughter Sarah had been turned upside-down so quickly, and they didn't like it.

Carlos and Sarah were currently walking through the woods just outside of Macon, Georgia, trying to find a safe place for themselves. They had come a long way from their home in North Carolina in such a short period of time.

"Dad?" Sarah inquired. She looked up at her father through her red-rimmed glasses. "Will we find a safe place soon? We've been walking for forever now. I'm tired."

"I hope so, sweetie..." Carlos answered, looking down at his daughter. "If you're tired though, we can stop and take a break," he suggested, and they stopped walking. Sarah then found herself lounging on a fallen tree, and catching her breath momentarily. "Have some water," Carlos said as he gave his daughter the small canteen that they had.

"Thanks," Sarah grinned, and took a small drink.

They didn't have many supplies left, save for maybe a few energy bars, some water, and medicine, but that was about it. There was only a couple more hours until it got dark, so they would have to stop traveling for the day shortly.

It didn't help that Sarah had so many questions that Carlos couldn't give a shadow of an answer to. But the teenager couldn't help it, she was always so curious, and these days she had every right to be. Carlos always did his best to make sure that his daughter was as far away from those "walkers" as possible.

It was only a few minutes later when the two heard some voices, and the doctor stood up, not wanting them to be discovered. "Come on, Sarah, we need to keep moving," he directed.

Sarah nodded obediently and began to follow her father.

They didn't seem to be walking for a very long time when Carlos heard the voices again. They had gotten noticeably closer, and Carlos was beginning to get worried. What if they were bad people? All he wanted to do was keep his daughter safe.

"Is someone out there, Dad?" Sarah asked.

Carlos stopped and listened, making sure to be prepared to grab his firearm in case someone tried to hurt Sarah or himself. But before he could say anything, two figures emerged into sight. One was a man with a brown beard, and the other was a rather tall teenager who looked to be a few years older than Sarah. The girl gasped quietly and backed away behind her father, peeking out.

The man eyed Carlos, and raised his arms. "You don't look like one of the people who raided our gymnasium," he said.

The teenage boy locked eyes with Sarah, and his blue orbs widened. "Mr. Parker...he has a kid."

"I don't want to hurt anyone," Carlos spoke carefully. "My daughter and I are just passing through," he added as he watched the two strangers with tentative eyes. They looked harmless for the most part, but you couldn't really ever tell these days.

Slowly but surely, the man - Mr. Parker, Carlos heard - put his arms down, and took an apprehensive step forward. "Well, daughter or not, you don't look the type," he told the other man. "Sorry, we're just a bit on edge, you know? There's bandits all over the damn place."

"Bandits?" Sarah squeaked out. From what she knew, bandits were bad people.

The boy looked just as nervous as she did, yet he stepped forward. "Uhh...we were just heading back to our camp. We've got my friend watching the place. We don't mean any trouble. Honest."

"You could come with us," Mr. Parker offered. "Our camp is safe."

Carlos hesitated. "I'm not sure if that's a good idea. My daughter and I don't take well to strangers," he explained.

"It's up to you," Mr. Parker replied.

Carlos seemed to think about it for a moment, and then turned and knelt to Sarah's height. "Sarah, these people are offering us a place to stay, but we don't have to go if you're not willing. It's your decision, honey."

Sarah looked from her father to the two people before them, and spoke up after a moment. "If their camp is safe, maybe we can try it out. Just for a little while?" she suggested. Carlos nodded and stood up to his full height.

"We'll go," he responded.

Mr. Parker nodded, and he and the teenager began to lead the way. He decided to make conversation. "So, what are your names? I'm David Parker, and this is one of my students, Ben."

"Hey," Ben nodded.

"This is Sarah, and I'm Carlos," the Hispanic man introduced himself and his daughter. Sarah reached out and took his hand, and turned to give Ben a shy smile. He looked nice, and maybe they could be friends, too!

"Has it always been just you and your daughter?" Mr. Parker asked.

Carlos nodded, "For the most part," he answered. "Her mother died when she was born," he said, referring to Sarah.

"I'm sorry to hear that," David apologized.

"What about you?" Carlos asked. "Are there any other students?" He could almost read the sadness in David's eyes, and he knew right then and there what had happened.

"The school became infested..." he trailed off. "I tried to save as many people as I could...but now there are only three of us left including myself."

"That's sad," Sarah said.

David bit his lip, but nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it is," he agreed. "But we can't let that overstimulate our thoughts."

Ben scratched the back of his neck. "The camp isn't far away, Travis is waiting for us," he explained, clearly trying to change the subject. But he had a flustered look on his face, and Carlos could tell that he was thinking about what had happened.

It only took a few minutes for the four of them to reach the camp. It was blocked off with some wood and a chained fence. There were three tents, and a campfire going. Another teenager with black hair sat on a log in front of it, holding a rifle. This had to be Travis.

Travis seemed to notice when they approached, and he got up to greet his group. "Didn't find anything?"

"Not a damn thing," David grumbled. "Walkers are eating every animal within a five-mile radius."

Travis turned and seemed to notice Carlos and Sarah, then turned to his teacher. "Umm, who are...?"

"This is Carlos and Sarah," David answered. "I told them they could come with us."

"We mean no harm," Carlos explained. "I'm just trying to protect my daughter."

Travis nodded. "It's nice to meet you all. Make yourselves at home."

"Thank you," Carlos responded. "Why don't you go lay down for a bit, honey?" Carlos asked Sarah, knowing that she must have been tired from walking all that way.

"You two can sleep in that empty tent right there." David pointed at a dark blue tent on the far right. "There's a few sleeping bags in there."

Sarah walked over to the tent and disappeared inside of it while Carlos sat on the log where Travis had previously been. David and Ben sat on the log adjacent from him while Travis stood by the front.

"So, where did you come from, Carlos?" David inquired.

Carlos thought about whether or not he should answer, but he decided that he might as well. "Sarah and I lived near Wilmington, North Carolina," he explained. "We had to evacuate almost immediately. Now, I just want to keep my daughter safe."

"Sorry to hear that," Ben commented.

"She's all I have left," Carlos said sadly. "So I will do anything to protect her."

"That's understandable," David said.

"I'm just hoping that this will all blow over quickly and we can go back home," the Hispanic man explained.

Ben sighed. "I don't think that's gonna happen anytime soon."

Carlos agreed with that, but didn't say anything. He peeked into the tent and saw that Sarah was fast asleep in the sleeping bag; he was happy to see that she was safe. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all.


	2. Bandit Raid

A few days later, Carlos and Sarah had still been staying with David and his students. Things were particularly well, and Carlos was grateful that David was being so nice to he and Sarah. The only problem was that food was starting to run low. And that would always be a problem now, since it was the so-called zombie apocalypse.

Travis and Ben suggested that they should go out and look for more food, but Mr. Parker disagreed, saying it was too dangerous to go out in the woods; especially with bandits and walkers lurking around.

"You may not come back, going out in these circumstances," he would tell them.

During this time, Sarah had taken a liking to Ben. She had always had a little trouble making friends, so when she did make them, it made her feel happy. Carlos would often find the two of them talking it up with one another. Like this morning, for instance.

Carlos was beginning to agree with the boys on finding food, since Sarah seemed to be getting thinner by the day. He was about to approach David on the matter when he heard a loud voice, and was horrified to see an arrow flying by Travis's head.

"Shit!" Travis cursed.

"Are those the same bandits?" David asked as the group ducked down to take cover. "We've got to get out of here!"

"Dad, I'm scared!" Sarah whined. Carlos was unsure of what to do in a situation like this, because, well, he'd never had to deal with one before. He was about to ask David what to do, when another arrow went whizzing by them. How in the world were they going to get out of here without being seen by the bandits?

"Oh God, oh God, oh God, we are so screwed," Ben muttered.

"Ben, shut up!" Travis whispered loudly.

"I see you over there!" one bandit yelled, flinging another arrow towards Carlos. Luckily, the doctor ducked before it could hit him. Sarah's breathing started to pick up.

Mr. Parker frantically began to search for an opening to escape with all of them getting out alive. "We may need to ready our weapons," he warned the group.

"Is that the only way?" Carlos hissed to David. He didn't want a bloodbath in front of his daughter. She was still all too sensitive to such things like that.

David turned to look at Carlos. "If we have to, we have to. Okay?"

Carlos nodded in return, if it was the only way out of here, then he would have to do it. He'd have to protect his daughter, and his other fellow group members. More arrows whizzed by, pulling the Hispanic man out of his thoughts. 

"We have to do something now," Carlos whispered.

"I'm thinking..." David replied.

"Dad!" Sarah whispered, but it came out more like a squeak.

"Stay down, sweetie," Carlos told her. He quickly turned his attention to David. "What are you thinking?"

David ducked down, with the arrow surprisingly ending up hitting another one of the bandits in the head. There were at least five or six of them left now. The teacher searched around, and saw an opening near the front. "If we can sneak without being seen, maybe we can get to that area."

Carlos nodded. "Do you think that will work?"

"It has to work," Ben said. "Or we'll be stuck here."

"Okay," David replied. "We wait for a good moment, and then we go. Travis, have your gun ready, just in case," the teacher ordered as he looked around at the group.

"Got it," Travis nodded.

"Sarah, you stay behind me," Carlos ordered, and she nodded frantically.

"Everybody stay alert," David ordered.

"You have to come out of there eventually!" another bandit taunted.

Travis placed some ammo in the Glock 22 he possessed, preparing to shoot any bandit that tried to come their way.

"Don't shoot them if they haven't discovered us," Carlos warned.

The five of them began to sneak their way to the exit, hoping that there wouldn't be any mishaps.

"Hey!" one of the bandits yelled. "They're going that way!" Of course they were spotted.

"Shit!" Travis hissed, readying his gun in case any of the bandits were to come close enough to them. Arrows were flying everywhere, and Carlos felt Sarah grab his hand and squeeze it.

"We're almost there!" David said.

They picked up their pace slightly, and an arrow came so close to Carlos that he could almost feel it whizzing past him.

A bandit ran towards them, and Travis readied his gun, just in case. Sarah's eyes widened, hoping that no one would get hurt. "I...I...Dad..."

"We're almost out, Sarah," Carlos tried to soothe her.

But much to his surprise, Travis pulled the trigger and hit the bandit in the neck before he could shoot another arrow. It happened so quickly and without warning. At that, Ben ran to the exit with the others following. They all hid behind a large tree until the yells of the bandits quieted down.

"Shit, we lost them," one of them, presumably the leader, announced.

"Alright," David said. "I think we're safe. Is everyone okay?" he asked, looking around at the group. They all looked at one another, making sure no one had been hit with an arrow and not noticed.

"I think we're good," Travis confirmed.

"Yeah," Ben said. "Good shooting, by the way," he praised his friend.

"Are you okay, Sarah?" Carlos asked, looking down at his daughter who was still shaking with fear. "We're okay now, they won't find us," he tried to coax. She nodded slightly, but of course, she was still shaken up about this situation.

"What are we gonna do now?" she asked in a small voice. She didn't want anything else bad to happen.

"Our supplies were left at the camp," Mr. Parker lamented, everyone unsure if he was answering Sarah's question. "We may have to find some, find a new shelter."

"Do you know where we should look?" Carlos inquired. "All that is nearby is woods."

David sighed, "Looks like we'll have some walking to do..." He trailed off.

"Do you think that's a good idea?" Ben asked, fear clearly etched in the teen's eye. It was obvious he didn't want anything else bad to happen to them. Sarah probably felt the same, and that's one of the many reasons they were friends.

"What other choice do we have?" Travis asked, mostly talking to Ben. "We shouldn't have to walk too far. There's gotta be something around here to help us." He was looking on the bright side of things, as always. That was a good trait to have in the apocalypse.

Ben sighed. "Fine, let's get going," he mumbled.

"Daddy, why did those people try to hurt us?" Sarah asked Carlos in the most innocent voice she could muster up.

Carlos squeezed his daughter's hand. "I don't know, sweetie," he responded honestly. "It's just the way people have been these past few months."

Sarah looked at the ground, slightly downcast. "Oh."

Carlos felt bad inside, because he knew that that wasn't the answer that Sarah wanted. Sometimes he felt bad for sort of lying to her, but he knew it was for her own good. He was only protecting her, and hopefully one day she would understand why he was doing what he was doing.

"Does anyone have any idea where we're at?" Ben asked, looking around at the forest around them. Getting lost would be the last thing that they would want.

"No idea," Travis responded. "Hey, Mr. Parker, think we should look for food now?"

"I suppose we have to now, don't we?" David answered with a short snicker.

So on they trekked for a short while. Along the way, Sarah seemed to calm down little by little, and the fear that had been evident in her dark eyes was decreasing. Carlos was extremely glad for this. But his thoughts were cut off by a couple of shouts and a snapping sound.

"Mr. Parker, look out!" Ben cried.

But the warning came too late, as the loud snapping noise came into action. David fell to the ground with an agonizing scream. It only took a few seconds for the group to realize that his leg was caught in a bear trap, and starting to bleed badly.

"Fuck, what are we going to do?" Ben screamed out. The ground was already soaked with David's blood, and there was no way they were going to be able to pry open the bear trap. The group was at a loss. And due to the fact of Mr. Parker's screams, walkers were starting to make their way out of the trees.


	3. The New Group

Everyone that wasn't entangled in the bear trap froze stiff, Sarah gripping Carlos's shirt in fear. Travis looked around with an expression of fear on his face. "Oh no..." he nearly panicked. Immediately, he bent down and attempted to free Mr. Parker from the bear trap.

"How are you gonna unlatch that?" Ben questioned, looking around as the walkers began to show themselves.

"Ben, shut up!" Travis chastised. "My dad was Special Forces, I know what I'm doing!"

"Oh God, please! Get me out of here!" David begged.

Carlos then heard running footsteps, and saw two men, one with dark skin and a leather jacket and another with glasses, bolting towards them with weapons in hand. Sarah gasped and gripped her father's shirt tighter and stared at them with eyes the size of saucers. They didn't look like the bandits who had raided their camp, but what if they tried to hurt them?

"Jesus Christ..." the man with glasses spoke as the two strangers watched the situation. That's when Travis and Ben turned their attention to the new people, and finally noticed they were standing there watching.

"Please don't kill us!" Travis begged. "We're just trying to help our teacher."

Sarah stood, still clutching her father's shirt, whimpering in fear at the situation. And that's when she saw another man running up, he had a mustache, and was wearing a hat. "Lee! Are you guys okay?" the new stranger said.

"Dad, what's going to happen?" Sarah whispered as she hid behind her father.

"Just stay quiet, honey," he replied back.

"Just get this fucking thing off me!" David yelled loudly, clutching his leg in pain. The walkers were getting closer, and everyone knew they didn't have much time.

"Travis, maybe they can help!" Ben suggested, trying to stay positive.

"These might be the same guys that raided our camp and...we barely got away from that!" Travis argued.

"Why the fuck is there a bear trap out here?!" the mustached man inquired.

"We don't know!" Carlos exclaimed, his arm around his shaking daughter protectively.

"Lee, we have to help!" the man in the glasses turned to his friend.

The walkers were beginning to appear more noticeably now, and Sarah's breathing began to pick up. Carlos desperately hoped that she wouldn't go into one of her anxiety attacks out here. The raven-haired teenager couldn't keep her eyes off of these new people.

"Please, try to get him out of there!" Ben nearly yelled. "I swear, we'll never bother you again!"

"Lee, this is fucked up, we've gotta help him," the man with the glasses said.

"Was he bitten?" the man, Lee, spoke.

"No!" Ben answered immediately. "Just please, get him out of there, and then you can leave us or whatever..."

"Okay," Lee said. "Let's get him out of there."

"You have to hurry," the man with the mustache said. The man with the glasses then bent down to look at the trap. A confused look rested on his face as he looked back up at Lee.

"The trap's been altered, there's no release latch..."

The growling of the nearby walkers was beginning to get louder, and Sarah squeezed her eyes tightly shut. Carlos used to tell her that there was no such thing as monsters, but now he was definitely wrong on that aspect.

"Shit! Walkers! It's now or never, Lee!" the mustached man shouted.

"Oh God, please..." David trailed off.

"Mark, get everybody back!" Lee instructed his friend in the glasses. He turned to the mustached man. "Kenny, keep those walkers off of me."

He bent down and tried to release the trap once, but to no avail. He knew that he had to do the inevitable now: Cut David free from the trap. Lee stood up and raised the axe he was holding, and looked down at Mr. Parker with a regretful expression.

"I'm gonna have to cut you out," he said.

"No, no, no!" David pleaded. "Try the trap again! Anything, please!"

"Sarah, don't look," Carlos ordered.

She looked away and squeezed her eyes shut tight, and then she heard the bone crunch when Lee brought the axe down on David's leg. He didn't cut all the way through on the first try, so he had to do it again, and again, and again, and again, until finally Mr. Parker was cut free. Once his leg was off, he passed out.

"Is he..." Mark trailed off while Travis puked at the sight of his teacher.

"He passed out." Lee said.

"What do we do now?" Carlos asked.

"If he's alive, grab him and let's go!" Kenny ordered. The walkers were right upon them now, so they had to act fast.

Travis retched violently at the sight of his teacher's one leg. The walkers were beginning to close in on him now. Lee's eyes widened, and he warned him. 

"BEHIND YOU!" 

The boy screamed and began to back away.

Carlos had to do something fast, wanting to prevent Travis from getting eaten. He told Sarah to stay close to Ben and ran to help. Quickly, he ran over and grabbed Travis before he could fall over, pulling him away before he could get devoured.

"We have to go!" Carlos demanded.

Mark scooped up David, and the whole group ran away from the oncoming walkers. Sarah clutched to her father as they ran, until finally, they arrived at a motel, which must have been the stranger's camp, or where they were staying.

"Get the gates open, we've got wounded!" Lee yelled as they approached the entrance. Sarah noticed a woman guarding the camp, as she sat atop an RV with a gun. When they were inside the motel parking lot, they were approached by more strangers.

"What's going on?"

"Who the hell are these people?"

Sarah only hid behind her father, not wanting to get yelled at any more today.

There was pandemonium and commotion coming from quite a large group of people, including a little girl. Sarah was a little more than uncomfortable since she wasn't used to being around so many strangers at once.

"I don't have time to explain!" Lee called over all the noise.

"Lee, are you okay?" the little girl asked.

"Get him into the truck, I'll see if I can fix him," a woman with blonde hair ordered.

Carlos was about to say something when the woman who was guarding the camp spoke up.

"Lee! LEE!" she yelled. "What the hell? You can't just be bringing new people here! What are you thinking?!"

"Hey! You wanna calm down for a fucking minute?" Kenny asked angrily.

"Watch your mouth!" an older man yelled.

"I want to know why you thought bringing more mouths to feed was a good idea!" she yelled, causing Sarah to flinch.

"He would have died if we left him," Lee retorted.

"So what?" the older man said.

"We are not responsible for every struggling survivor out there. We have to worry about our own group, right here!" the woman yelled.

"Well, hang on," another girl with short brown hair interrupted. "We haven't even talked to these people yet, maybe they can help us," she suggested. Sarah decided that she liked that girl, she was nicer than all the other ones.

"Come on, Lilly! These are people! People trying to survive just like us!" Mark backed her up.

"The only reason you're here is because you had food, enough for all of us! And that food is almost gone." The woman, Lilly, turned to Carlos, Travis, and Ben in a sarcastic manner. "And I don't suppose you guys are carrying any groceries, are you?"

"Um...no," Ben responded.

"Fine, you guys fight it out," Mark wasn't going to be involved in this. "Welcome to the family, everybody." He walked off.

Just then, the little girl approached Ben and took his hand. "Come over here and see what I drew."

"What? No, I-" Ben was interrupted when the little girl began to drag him away.

"Just come on, okay?"

The little girl took him over to Sarah, and looked up at her. "Come on, you guys can color with us."

Sarah didn't know what to think. There were other kids she could play with here, but not all of the people seemed very nice. She turned to Carlos for his approval.

"You can go, sweetie," he told her, and she gave him a small smile before walking off with her hopefully new friends.


	4. Meeting Properly

After Carlos made sure that Sarah was in a safe place, he went to help the blonde woman, Katjaa, in making sure that David was okay. "Travis? Can you give me a hand, please?" he asked, calling for the teen.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Travis said, and the two walked to the truck where Katjaa was standing.

"Maybe I can help?" Carlos offered. "I'm a doctor."

Katjaa nodded gratefully. "I think I've gotten the bleeding to stop." Carlos took some time to look at what was left of David's leg. It was chopped off all the way to the knee, and he had lost a lot of blood in the process.

"Have you got clean bandages?" Carlos asked.

"Not very many," Katjaa answered. "I'll go get them for you," she said, and walked off to one of the motel rooms.

"Is he going to live?" Travis asked, pulling Carlos out of his thoughts.

"We're going to see what we can do for him," the Spanish man responded. "Hopefully, he will be okay."

"I hope so too," Travis stated, looking at the ground. The two heard yelling and turned around, only to find Kenny and Lilly fighting over "leadership," and Lee in the middle. He seemed to be the peacemaker between the two.

"It doesn't matter who's in charge!" Lee tried to reason. "Those people are here now. I guess we just have to decide what happens next."

"No, Lee, it does matter! We can't have one person in charge of everything!" Kenny retaliated.

Carlos decided not to listen in at this point, and he and Travis turned to see Katjaa walking out of the room with a somewhat small first-aid kit. A few medical supplies was still better than no supplies.

Meanwhile, Sarah was lying on her stomach beside Ben, hoping to make some friends in the little girl and the other boy. The lady sitting in the chair seemed nice too. The young teen got some paper and decided on what to draw. After a moment, she decided to draw her old cat, Pepper, and started her search for a gray crayon.

"What are your names?" the little girl inquired, looking over to Sarah and Ben. "I'm Clementine."

"I'm Sarah," Sarah gave the girl, Clementine, a small smile. She looked up at Ben. "That's Ben."

"And I'm Duck!" the little boy said, coloring fiercely on his paper, introducing himself to the newcomers.

"That man over there-" Sarah said, pointing over to Carlos, "He's my dad."

"My dad has a mustache!" Duck replied. Clementine said nothing, and only kept coloring on her small piece of paper. Sarah wondered why she didn't say anything. Did Clementine not like her already? Had she said something wrong?

Carlos finally had wrapped the bandages around David's leg, and secured them tightly. "There," he said, making sure they were in their place. "That's all we can do for now. Hopefully he'll wake up."

"And if he doesn't?" Travis asked.

"Then he's gone," Carlos answered simply. Kenny and Lilly were still arguing quite loudly, Lee trying to settle things, and Carlos was beginning to doubt his decision about coming here. He didn't want people fighting around his daughter. But still, this camp had a lot of people, and there was always safety in numbers.

"Since you think this is so easy, why don't you hand out the food rations today?" Lilly yelled, shoving only two items of food into Lee's hands. "There you go, oh, and guess what? There's not enough for everyone. Have fun," she said bitterly.

Nearly everyone looked over at Lee almost hopefully. It was all too obvious that they had a low supply of food as well as medicine and bandages. Carlos decided not to take any food (if he was offered any), as it didn't belong to him. But deep down, he secretly hoped that his daughter would be offered something.

Lee looked at the food in his hands, and then around at the group. It was decidedly obvious who was first on his list, and made his way over to Clementine. The little girl heard him coming and walked over to where he was.

"Are you gonna color, Ben?" Sarah turned and asked her older friend sweetly, offering him some paper and a purple crayon.

"Oh, um, that's okay, Sarah," Ben replied with a small smile.

"How are you doing, sweetie?" Carlos asked as he approached his daughter.

"I'm okay," she answered shortly.

"Are you being nice to the other kids?" he asked her, and she smiled.

"Of course, Dad," she replied.

"That's good," Carlos said. "I'm gonna go see if I can help out, find me if you need anything, okay?" he said, and Sarah nodded in return. She watched as Clementine sat down and began eating the very small portion of food that Lee had given her.

"Is that man your dad?" Sarah asked, catching Clem off guard.

"He takes care of me," Clem answered.

"Oh," Sarah said almost silently.

She didn't want to pry into Clementine business about her parents' whereabouts, it didn't concern her and she wanted to be friends. So for now, she wanted to color in her kitty and hopefully become friends. It seemed as though Duck did too, as he began to tell a story.

Carlos looked around, wondering where to go for now. He noticed Mark and the older man, Larry, working on the wall near the entrance of the motor inn, and decided to approach them. Mark heard him and turned around. "Oh, hey. I never got your name...?"

"It's Carlos, and over there is my daughter, Sarah," Carlos introduced. "I was just wondering if you two needed any help."

"We don't," the old man told him bitterly, with an angry expression. It was then that Carlos decided to keep Sarah as far away from him as possible, he seemed pretty rude in general. From first impressions.

"Alright then, have it your way," Carlos replied politely. He then turned around, and noticed the woman Lilly standing and still looking angry about this whole situation. He decided that he should probably apologize to her, about causing all of this commotion.

He approached her hesitantly. "I'm Carlos," he introduced quietly, extending his hand out to shake hers. He already knew her name, but he wasn't sure if she knew his.

"Lilly," the woman replied bitterly, not bothering to shake Carlos' hand.

"I'm really sorry about causing all of this commotion," he apologized. "I'm just trying to look out for my daughter."

Lilly remained silent for a moment, and glanced at the old man behind Carlos. Was he her father? But she crossed her arms and replied, "Fine. But know that we had plenty of people here already before you guys came around. We're not 'come one, come all,' you know."

"I understand that," Carlos confirmed. "But I'll try to be as much of a help as I can. I was a doctor before all this."

At that, Lilly uncrossed her arms and looked at the ground. "I don't suppose you guys have any medical supplies, do you?"

"I'm sorry, we don't," Carlos apologized. "Our camp was raided by bandits this morning. Now I'm a little worried about my daughter."

"My dad's always worried about me too," Lilly answered softly.

Carlos chuckled. "That him over there?" he asked, pointing to the old man who wasn't so nice to him just moments ago.

Lilly nodded. "How'd you know?"

Carlos laughed. "Similar personalities, I guess."

"Is it that obvious?" Lilly questioned, laughing just a bit. She thought that it felt good to laugh again, and maybe these new people weren't so bad after all.

"Yeah, a little," Carlos joked, but then turned serious. "Just let me know if you need anything, okay? I will try to be as much help as I can," he offered, and she nodded in return.

"Why don't you just go introduce yourself to some of the others? I'm sure they'd be relieved to know that there's a doctor in our group now," she said, and he nodded, and took her advice, looking around for another person to introduce himself to. He decided to go talk to Kenny and Katjaa, since he didn't get to speak to them much at first. They seemed like nice people, so hopefully he was right.

Katjaa was checking in on David, who was still unconscious, and Kenny was leaning against the RV nearby, his arms crossed.

"How is he looking?" Carlos inquired as he checked David's pulse. It wasn't all that strong, but at least it was still going.

"He seems stable, for now at least," Katjaa replied.

"Good to hear it," the doctor answered. He glanced at Kenny. "My name's Carlos, by the way."

"Kenny," Kenny nodded, giving Carlos a firm shake of the hand. He glanced behind him. "That your girl over there?"

Carlos listened for a brief second. Duck was yammering on about something or other, and he could hear Sarah giggling. "Yes, that's my daughter, Sarah."

"Looks like my boy's talking her ears off already," Kenny joked.

Carlos smiled. "Oh, I'm sure she's doing the same. She's shy at first, but loves making new friends."

"Then they'll probably get along great," Kenny replied.

"Also," Carlos started, "I never got to say thank you earlier, for helping us back there, and getting us here safe. If it weren't for you and that man Lee, my daughter and I might be dead," he finished on a serious note.

"Don't mention it," Kenny waved off. "Us survivors, we gotta look out for each other."

"Yeah," Carlos nodded. "You're right."

"It was nice meeting you," Kenny said. "If there's anything Kat and I can do for you, or your little girl, you just let us know. Welcome to the group," he finished, giving Carlos a pat on the back.

"Thank you," Carlos told him gratefully. He walked off to check on Sarah one more time. Perhaps joining a group wasn't such a bad idea after all.


	5. The Farm Boys

Sarah was patiently waiting for Duck to finish using the blue crayon when she saw Carlos approaching her again, and she held up her paper for him to see. "Dad, look!"

"That's very nice, Sarah," Carlos praised. "Is that Pepper?"

"Yup!" Sarah chirped. "I'm waiting for Duck to get done so I can color her eyes."

"Sarah was just telling me how she got her," the woman in the chair spoke up. "She really hid cats in her room?"

Carlos couldn't help but smile slightly. "Yes, Sarah found stray cats around the neighborhood and wanted to take care of them, so she hid them in her room. It didn't last very long." Here he chuckled. "I got her the gray kitten for her birthday, and that's when she stopped."

The woman smiled. "Nice story. Your name's Carlos, right? I'm Carley."

"Nice to meet you Carley," Carlos replied. "Lilly told me to go and introduce myself to everybody. I'm a doctor, so if you need anything, just let me know," he explained.

"A doctor, huh?" Carley asked. "It'll be nice to have you around then. Katjaa's a vet, so she does what she can."

"Dad, I'm really hungry," Sarah said, interrupting their conversation.

"I know, sweetie," Carlos responded. He wished that there was something he could do. It would seem pretty rude of him to approach Lee and ask him to give his daughter food that didn't belong to them.

Just then, Travis walked over to them. "Hey, Carlos? Mr. Parker just woke up. That woman's checking him over."

"Will he be okay?" Ben inquired from his spot next to Sarah.

Travis shrugged. "I think so."

Carlos figured it would be best to go check on David himself, since he was the doctor and all. He told Sarah that he'd be right back, and he headed over to the truck once again. David was partially sitting up, looking around confused.

"How're you feeling, David?" Carlos asked as he checked the bandages. All the bleeding seemed to stop, so that was one good thing. "Are you in pain?" Carlos asked again.

David nodded. "My leg is burning," he answered.

Carlos looked over to Katjaa. "Do you guys have pain meds?"

"Only a little," Katjaa admitted. "We may have enough for him, though."

She disappeared into the motel room again, this time coming out with a brown paper bag. She pulled out a prescription bottle and opened it, taking out a pill and handing it to David, who put it in his mouth.

"Thank you," David stated gratefully. He glanced around. "Oh, uh, I suppose you can tell that to Lee, too."

Carlos was confused for a moment, until he remembered that Lee was the one who had cut off David's leg in the first place. But at least it had saved David, so that was something to be grateful for. He figured that he should probably introduce himself to Lee, and then that was everybody.

He made sure that David was okay first, and asked Katjaa to keep an eye on him while he went to go thank Lee properly. He found the man talking to Kenny, and approached them both hesitantly. "Lee?" Carlos asked, and the man turned to look at him.

"Yeah?" he asked in reply.

"I never really got to properly introduce myself. My name's Carlos, and over there's my daughter, Sarah," Carlos said, pointing over to his little girl who was now engaged in a conversation with Clementine.

"I'm Lee," Lee said, extending his hand for Carlos to shake it.

"I just wanted to say thank you for getting us out of those woods," Carlos continued after he shook Lee's hand. "We are lucky you three showed up when you did. I appreciate it, and Sarah does too."

"Don't mention it," Lee answered with a small smile. "We couldn't just leave you all out there." He looked over at the truck where David was. "So, how is he? He'll be okay?"

"He should be fine," Carlos nodded. "We've gotten the bleeding to stop and we've patched him up. He was lucky to not have bled to death. Thank you for getting him out of there."

Lee was about to open his mouth to say something else, until Carley interrupted them. "Back off!" she yelled pointing her gun to some people outside of the fence. This of course, got the attention of everybody, and they all looked over to where she was pointing.

"Whoa, lady, relax!" some man with dark hair said. He was also carrying a gas can, "Me and my brother, we...we just wanna know if y'all can help us out," he said, holding up the gas can. The man behind him just stood with his hands up, not wanting to be shot by Carley. Carlos thought that these men looked awfully strange, and he wanted to keep them away from Sarah.

"I said back off!" Carley yelled again.

"Carley..." Lilly trailed off in a warning tone.

"We don't want any trouble!" Lee yelled.

"Neither do we!" the man with his hands up replied.

"Why do you need gas?" Carley asked, still not putting her gun down.

"Our place is protected by an electric fence," the man holding the gas can said. "Generators provide the electricity. Our generators run on gas," he answered. "Look, we own a dairy farm a few miles up the road. If y'all can lower your guns, maybe we can work out some kind of deal."

"How are y'all doing on food?" the shorter man inquired. "We got plenty at the dairy."

The faces of the group members looked pretty stunned, as it seemed to be a rare thing nowadays. Lilly seemed to think about it for a moment, then turned to Lee. "Lee, why don't you and Mark go check the place out, see if it's legit?"

"I'm going with you," Carley added as she finally put her gun down. "I've got your back if anything seems fishy."

"So...what are y'all thinking?" the man with the gas can asked.

"You've got a deal," Lee called after a moment. "We'll bring some gas to your dairy. In exchange you give us some food to bring back. We'll see how it goes from there."

"Sounds fair. A could of gallons should power our generators for a while."

Lee nodded. "Okay, then."

Lilly glanced around for just a moment. "Carlos, why don't you and Ben go too?" she suggested.

"I, um..." Carlos trailed off and turned around to glance at Sarah. "I'm not sure if I should. I've got my daughter here now."

"We can keep an eye on her until you come back," Lilly offered.

Carlos weighed the pros and cons of leaving Sarah here with these people that he only just met moments ago. They seemed nice enough, but still, Sarah wouldn't let him go so willingly either. The dairy farm was only a few miles up though, so it shouldn't be that bad.

He nodded, "Okay. I'll go."

"Thank you," Lilly replied.

Lee, Carley, Mark, and Ben walked to the exit of the motor inn, while Carlos walked over to Sarah, who was standing near the RV. He knelt down to her level and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Sarah, I'm going with Lee and Mark to check out this farm," he informed her. "You need to stay here with Lilly and the others, where it's safer." This caused her eyes to widen, and a look of fear was evident on her face.

"Do you have to?" Sarah asked timidly.

"Yes, it may improve our relationship with these people," Carlos responded. "I promise I'll be back soon, honey. You can play with the other children, or ask one of the adults if there are any books for you to read."

Sarah looked at the ground, still not wanting her father to leave, but she knew that she had no say in this matter. "Okay..."

"I'll be back before you know it," Carlos smiled slightly. "And we'll bring back food too."

"Okay, Daddy," Sarah smiled. "Be safe."

"I will, sweetie," he replied and went to meet Lee, Carley, Mark, and Ben at the gates. Hopefully this dairy farm was as safe as the strangers said it was. He needed it to be safe, not only for he and his daughter, but for the other survivors as well. "Katjaa, Travis, keep an eye on David while I'm gone," Carlos said before he and his group left for the farm.

A few minutes after Carlos had left, the kids had gotten bored from coloring and decided to do something else. Sarah was too shy to ask Clementine and Duck if she could play with them, so she decided to find something to entertain herself with.

She looked around at the adults. Kenny had taken watch, and Katjaa and Travis were with Mr. Parker. And she definitely didn't want to talk to Larry, he seemed mean and scary.

Lilly was walking around the motor inn, possibly checking up on things. Sarah looked down at the ground, debating on whether or not to talk to her. But maybe she knew if this place had any books...?

So she decided to be bold and approached Lilly near one of the rooms. "Excuse me?" she asked quietly, tugging on the older woman's sleeve.

Lilly turned and looked at the younger girl. "Sarah, right?" she asked.

Sarah nodded, "Mhm."

"What's the matter?" Lilly asked. "Your dad should be right-"

"It's not about my dad," Sarah said. "I was just wondering if you guys had some books around here," she asked shyly, her cheeks burning slightly.

"Oh. Well..." Lilly trailed off, turning around. She wasn't all that good with kids, Sarah being no exception. But she decided to try and be as nice as possible. "I think I might have a few in my room. Wait here."

Sarah nodded and obliged, hoping that she would get to read something. She missed reading a lot.

Lilly returned a minute later with a couple of books, slipping them into the young teen's hands. "I read these when I was a bit younger. You might like them."

Sarah smiled. "Thank you so much!" she exclaimed, and hugged Lilly as tightly as she could.

Lilly desperately fought to hide a smile...and failed.


	6. St. John's Dairy

"So, this dairy...you guys really have food?" Mark questioned as he, Ben, Carley, Lee, and Carlos walked along a dirt path with the two strangers. Carlos was still feeling quite skeptical, but as long as they had food for Sarah, he didn't mind going to the farm.

"Sure do," the taller man with the gas can, Andy, said. "We lost most of the cattle, but we're stocked up on milk, butter, and cheese," he answered.

Danny, the shorter man chimed in, "And with the vegetables we grow, we got plenty of food."

They continued to walk on while Lee and Carley spoke of Lee's past. Carlos was silent the majority of the time, just wanting to hurry and get to the dairy, and then back to his daughter as soon as possible. She was already probably worried sick about him; he hoped at least Lilly was being nice to her.

"Y'all seemed pretty settled in at the motor inn over there..." Andy said, breaking up the silence. "Who's running things over there?" he asked.

"We work as a group," Lee answered. "All of us looking out for each other."

"I hear that," Andy replied. "There are so many dumbasses out there, fightin' each other these days. It's just stupid," he finished.

"How many people you got over there anyway?" Danny questioned.

"Enough to defend ourselves," Lee answered.

"Well that's good!" Andy said. "It's getting dangerous out there."

"Well, we'd love to get you all out to the dairy," Danny added. "Like I said, we've got plenty of food, and quite frankly, we could use an extra helping hand."

"In the summers, I used to help out on a goat farm," Ben announced.

"Well, that's great. Everything helps!"

"Mama's been runnin' the dairy for as long as I can remember," Andy spoke up. "I think we-"

"You think you're gonna cut me out of this?!" a new voice yelled out. Carlos frowned, this voice sounded oddly familiar.

"Shit, get down!" Andrew ordered.

Everyone crouched down and stayed out of sight. Two men wearing masks were arguing about something or other, and that was when Carlos realized why the voice sounded so familiar: These were the people who had raided their camp just a couple of hours earlier.

"Fuckin' bandits," Danny muttered.

"Carlos, those look like the people who raided our camp," Ben glanced at the Hispanic man behind him.

"Who are they?" Lee whispered.

"Shh!" Andy shushed him. "Fucking assholes is who they are."

"There's only two of them," Carley pointed out.

"Yeah, and you know what? We ate it all!" one bandit shouted. "What are you gonna fucking do about it?"

"Don't worry, Danny and I got you covered if something happens, but let's just wait this out and hopefully they'll move on."

"FUCK YOU!" the first bandit shouted. Much to the shock of everyone, he promptly kicked the other guy down and immediately shot him in cold blood. Ben let out an audible gasp. The bandit began to repeatedly shoot the second, although he was already dead. "FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU!"

"Jesus!" Carley uttered.

"Asshole," the bandit finally commented as he walked away.

Carlos grumbled to himself and squeezed his eyes shut. He was very thankful that Sarah wasn't here to see what had just occurred.

"The world out here has gone to shit," Andy said. "Come on, let's get to the dairy where it's safe." The group then walked for a little while longer until, finally, they approached the clear path of the dairy farm. Then they knew that they had finally made it. "Here it is, the St. John family dairy," Andy said. "Y'all can see how we've kept this place so safe," he added, gesturing to the electric fence.

"The fence keeps them out?" Ben asked.

"You betcha. They fry like bugs in a zapper."

"Ever have any accidents?" Lee asked.

Andy shook his head. "Nah."

"It's safer here than it is out there!" Danny chimed in.

Suddenly, an older looking woman approached the group. "I thought I saw y'all coming with company down the drive." She smiled at the group.

"Guys, this is our mama," Andy said proudly.

"I'm Brenda St. John and welcome to the St. John dairy!" she welcomed with a big smile. Carlos thought she seemed friendly enough. He wished he had Sarah with him, though, she was good at telling what kind of person new people were by first impressions. She would tell him if Brenda was nice or not.

"This here's Lee, he's been living down at that old motel round the way," Andy introduced.

"Oh my goodness, that place is pretty vulnerable," said Brenda. "Have you got someone with survival experience to lead your group?"

"We all work together, plus we got plenty of people with military experience," Lee responded.

"Well, that's good to hear. That motel ain't the safest place," Brenda continued. "Now that y'all are here, we'll make sure you're safe and comfortable."

"Does that offer apply to the rest of us?" Lee inquired.

"We're all incredibly hungry," Carley added.

"These are for y'all, baked fresh this morning," Brenda replied, holding out a basket of biscuits for the group to see.

"Wow," Carlos breathed out. He was starting to get somewhat of a good feeling. Sarah would be happy to see the food once they arrived back.

"Amazing!" Carley exclaimed.

"Can't get stuff like that anymore, not without a cow for milk and butter, that's for sure," Danny shook his head slightly.

"That's right!" Brenda chimed in. "Hopefully Maybelle will make it through whatever this is that she's got, and will be with us for a long while," she added, referring to their cow.

"Your cow is sick?" Lee asked. "What's-"

"We have a vet!" Mark jumped in. "We could bring her here, help you folks out."

"And Carlos here is a doctor," Ben said, causing Carlos to smile.

"I'm not sure my skills will be very helpful with animals," Carlos replied. He couldn't help but to think of Sarah's reaction when she would see the cow. She absolutely adored animals, and seeing one would make her very happy.

"A vet? And a doctor?" Brenda exclaimed. "Oh my, our prayers have been answered!"

"Maybe our whole group could come," Mark suggested. "Just for the day."

"Well, how about this, y'all go get your veterinary friend and I'll prepare some dinner! A big feast for all you hungry souls," Brenda replied. "It'll be nice to have some folks to help out around here again. Danny, why don't you come help me in the kitchen?" Danny nodded, and he and his mother walked to the house.

"Why don't I head back with the food, and get everyone ready for the trip over here?" Carley suggested.

"You might wanna take someone with you," Andy said. "Those roads can be dangerous."

"Take this," Mark said, and handed Carley his gun. "And why don't you take Ben anyway."

"I should come too," Carlos said. "My daughter will be worried about me."

"Sure," Carley nodded. Then, she turned to Lee. "Take care of yourself, Lee. See you in a while."

The trio walked off back into the woods, hoping not to see any more shit on the way back to the motel. Carley opened up the basket of biscuits and counted how many were in there. "I think there's plenty in here for everyone. What do you guys think?"

"I wish we'd been able to grab our stuff before the bandits could take it," Ben replied. He seemed to think for a moment, then reached in and took out a biscuit, and started to eat it. Carley took out another one and offered the basket to Carlos.

"I'm fine," the doctor said. "I want to make sure Sarah has something to eat first."

"You sure?" Carley asked.

"Yes."

It was silent for about a minute or two, then Carley made some conversation with Ben and Carlos, asking what their lives were like before, et cetera. The walk back to the motel didn't take all that long.


	7. Group's Arrival

At the motel, Sarah was reading one of the books that Lilly had given her when she heard a voice. "We're back!"

She jumped up from the outdoor sofa and stood next to the RV. Carley, along with Carlos and Ben, were standing at the entrance, but where were Lee and Mark? Sarah hoped they were okay.

"The St. Johns invited the group over to the dairy farm," Carley explained. "Their mother, Brenda, she said that she would cook all of us a big dinner. And we brought these. There were a lot in there." She held out a basket, which Lilly took and uncovered.

Lilly nodded and handed the basket to Katjaa, who placed them by the truck.

Sarah decided that it was okay to go and greet her father, and she gave him a hug. "What was the farm like, Daddy?" she wanted to know. "Is it safe?"

Carlos had decided to tell her about the farm, but leave out the part about the cow so that he could surprise her. "It's really nice there, sweetie," he said. "You and the other kids can all play outside together."

"It sounds nice, and they have food!" Sarah exclaimed, which reminded Carlos that he had put one of the buns in his pocket so Sarah could have something to eat since she hadn't eaten in a while. He pulled it out and gave it to her, and her eyes lit up.

"I saved it for you since you were hungry," he said and winked at her.

"Thanks, Daddy," Sarah said, and began eating it.

"Is everyone ready?" Lilly asked, interrupting the conversation between Carlos and his daughter. "Someone will have to stay here to watch the motel, and someone will have to help carry David, since he only has one leg," she added.

"I can carry Mr. Parker," Travis offered. "He is my teacher after all."

Carlos raised his eyebrows. Travis didn't look all that strong, but then again, he had only known him for a few days. Lilly agreed, and Travis walked over to the truck to let David know they were leaving.

"Ben and I can stay here, since we had some of the food," Carley suggested.

"Fine," Lilly replied. "You two stay while the rest of us go."

"I'll go get everyone else," Katjaa announced, and walked away to talk to Kenny and Duck.

"I wish Ben could go," Sarah looked between her father and Ben.

"I'll be fine, Sarah," Ben smiled at her. "Bring me back some food, okay?"

She grinned, "Okay, I will."

Once everyone was up and ready by the gate, it was time for them to go. "Everyone has to stick together," Carlos said. "We saw some bandits on the way there, so everyone keep your eyes open. Stay alert," he ordered, and everyone seemed to nod in agreement.

"If you aren't back before nightfall, Ben and I are coming back up there," Carley said.

"Good call," Lilly said. "Okay, let's go." The remaining members of the group began their walk back to the dairy with Carlos in the lead since he had already been there.

Clementine and Sarah talked about cats on the way there. "I always wanted a cat..." Clementine said, "But my dad was allergic to them so I wasn't allowed to have one."

"That's sad," Sarah replied.

"Hey Dad, are we almost there yet?" Duck asked.

"I'm sure it won't take long, bud," Kenny responded, patting his son on the back.

"Are you feeling okay, Mr. Parker?" Travis asked as he carried his teacher. For a scrawny kid, he was stronger than he looked.

"I'll be fine, just...hopefully the medication kicks in soon," David answered.

They walked for a little while longer until they reached a clearing, meaning that they were now at the farm. Sarah loved it already; the view was breathtaking to her, and it seemed like things were back to the way they were before. Lee and Mark were talking to the St. Johns.

"Hey, y'all!" Kenny greeted.

Brenda turned and noticed David in Travis's arms. "Oh my Lord! What happened to you, sweetheart?!"

"Bear trap," David answered with a weak smile.

"A bear trap? Goodness!" Brenda exclaimed. "We'll get you inside and comfortable, okay, honey? And I've got some pain meds too," she said as she patted the man on the shoulder.

"That sounds like heaven," David said.

"Danny, Andy, get this man inside. Put him in the guest room, and give him some medicine," Brenda ordered.

"You got it, Mama," Andy said.

Lilly looked around, and actually looked satisfied. "Wow, you guys weren't kidding when you said this place was secure," she said to Carlos.

"Where's Ben and Carley?" Lee inquired.

"Since Carley and Ben ate some of the food on the way back, Carley volunteered to watch the motor inn until we get back," Lilly answered.

At that moment, Andrew and Danny walked outside without Brenda and David. The two talked to one another briefly, then Andy turned to the children. "Hey kids, look what Lee fixed up for ya!" They all looked, and their faces brightened.

"A swing! I love swings! Just like at my treehouse!" Clementine exclaimed. "Come on, you guys!" Then to Lee, she added, "Thanks, Lee, you're the best!"

"Yeah!" Duck cried.

"Thank you," Sarah added, more shyly.

"Why don't you kids go play on the swing, huh?" Kenny suggested.

Sarah looked to Carlos for approval, and he nodded before she ran off to join her friends. Duck jumped onto the swing while Clementine stood nearby, and Sarah sat on the tree stump.

A few moments later, Brenda came back out of the house. "Your friend should be okay, I gave him some medicine and he's out like a light," she said.

"Thank you," Travis nodded towards the older woman.

She then looked to Katjaa, "You must be the veterinarian."

"I'm Katjaa," she introduced.

"Brenda," the older woman said. "If you could follow me, Maybelle's in the barn." Katjaa nodded and followed Brenda over to the giant barn.

Carlos looked over at Andy and Danny. "Is there anything we can do to help out until dinner gets done?" he asked. "It's the least we can do."

"I was actually thinkin' of scoping out the bandit camp in the woods," Danny replied. "It would be nice if one of y'all came with."

"Why?" Lee wanted to know.

"Just to make sure they ain't gonna try anything on us," Danny answered. "You know how people get these days."

"I'll go," Lee volunteered. "Carlos, you stay here with your daughter."

"Thank you, Lee," Carlos nodded at the other man.

"But other than that, I think we're good," Andy gave the two men a smile. "Y'all enjoy yourselves here. I'll be at the generator if ya need anything." And with that, he walked off.


	8. Jolene and the Camp

Everyone then went their separate ways once the group finished their conversation. Lee decided that he didn't want to go to the bandit camp just yet, so he walked over to check on Clementine, and Carlos followed behind him, deciding that he should check on Sarah too. Duck was currently on the swing, with Kenny pushing him, and Sarah and Clem were patiently waiting their turn.

Clementine's eyes lit up once she saw Lee walking over to her. "Hey, Lee, can you push me on the swing?" she asked.

Lee nodded. "Sure, sweet pea." He then looked over at Kenny. "Mind if Clementine takes a turn?"

"Alright Duck, let Clem have a turn," Kenny said, and Duck jumped off the swing. Carlos then watched as Clementine climbed onto the swing and Lee began to push her. He then walked over and sat down on a rock beside his daughter.

"Looks pretty fun, huh?" Carlos said to Sarah.

She nodded. "Can you push me next, Daddy?" she asked.

"Of course, sweetie. We just have to wait until Clementine gets done," he answered.

"Okay." She nodded and scooted closer to her dad. "Do you like it here?" Sarah then asked, looking up at her father with her dark eyes.

Carlos nodded. "Don't you?"

"I love it here," she answered. "It makes me think of before."

"Me too," Carlos said.

Lee was having a similar conversation with Clementine as he pushed her on the swing, and so far it seemed that the whole group was enjoying the dairy. Sarah played with the zipper on her green jacket as she patiently waited her turn.

"Alright, Clementine, I think that's enough for now," Lee finally said, stopping the swing.

"Okay, Lee. Thanks for pushing me!" Clementine exclaimed as she hopped off.

"Of course," Lee replied. He turned to Carlos and Sarah. "It's all yours."

Sarah beamed and hopped off of the tree stump. "Come on, Dad!" she nearly yelled, taking Carlos' hand and leading him over to the swing. Carlos couldn't help but smile; he hoped that his daughter never had to lose her innocence.

Sarah sat on the swing and eagerly waited for Carlos to begin pushing her. Albeit she was thirteen and probably a little too old now for the swing, she was still excited about it.

He pushed, relatively slow at first, and the continued to get faster. "Higher, Dad, higher!" Sarah nearly squealed, and Carlos obliged to her requests, pushing her as high as the swing would take her. He could tell she was enjoying herself by the way she was laughing, and in that moment, Carlos was glad that Andy built the swing for the kids. At least they had something to do to pass time now.

As he was pushing his daughter, Carlos watched as Lee walked around to talk to each individual member of the group. He was probably making sure that everyone was okay with the dairy and the living accommodations now. Once Lee was done, he made his way back over to Carlos and Kenny.

"I think I'm gonna go check out that bandit camp now," Lee said. "Could you guys keep an eye on Clementine while I'm gone?" he asked Carlos and Kenny.

Kenny nodded. "Of course, Lee. I'll always have your back."

"Thanks," Lee said. "I'll be right back Clem, okay?" he said to her.

"Please be lucky," Clementine replied.

"I will," Lee said with a nod and headed out of the dairy with Andy and Danny.

The three of them headed out of the dairy with rifles in hand, Lee wondering what was so important that they had to go scope out the bandit camp. Oh well, it probably wasn't for anything major.

"See anything?" Danny inquired.

"Not yet," said Lee.

"I know it's around here, it's gotta be close," Andy pointed out, squinting his eyes as he scanned around.

As soon as he said that, Lee felt a kick of something. Looking down, he saw a can of alphabet soup roll a little bit away. He inspected it for a moment, and stood up. Soon enough, Lee saw a camp with a tent, some chairs, and a fireplace. There was also boxes stocked up with food.

"Here!" he called to the brothers.

"Oh, shit! You found it?" Danny asked as he stood beside Lee.

Lee hushed him and motioned for them to move forward, slowly and quietly.

"See anybody?" Andy asked.

"Looks empty," Lee replied.

"I'll go check out the tent..." Danny said, and began to tip toe quietly towards the tent. He kept his gun ready, just in case something or someone were to pop out of nowhere. He then peeled back the tent opening carefully, only to reveal an empty tent with some sleeping bags in it. "All clear," he said.

"This camp's too small, it can't be their main base," Andrew shook his head.

"That's what I was thinking," Lee agreed.

"Take a look around anyway," Danny instructed. "There's probably some shit around here that they stole from us."

Lee looked around, but everything standing near Danny was empty; nothing looked suspicious. He walked to the other side and noticed some boxes labeled, "Save-Lots," and couldn't help but inquire. "What's in these boxes?"

"The first few days, they told folks to gather by the Save-Lots by the interstate," Andy explained. "Anything worth taking?"

Lee shook his head and continued to search around. At one point, he noticed something that caught his eye and moved a box out of the way. It was a video camera.

"Lemme see that," Danny said.

"Battery's dead, though," Lee told him.

Lastly, he decided to examine the tent to see if there was anything useful. There was a stuffed rabbit, along with a photo of a mother and daughter that caused him to feel a pang of sadness. It was when he picked up a certain hat when things changed.

"The hell?" he asked. This was Clementine's hat; it was stolen!

"Don't you fucking move!" a new voice, a female, demanded.

"Shit!" Danny yelled.

"PUT YOUR GUNS DOWN!" the woman, holding a crossbow, ordered. "I ain't going back. You tell 'em Jolene ain't goin' back!"

Lee, Danny, and Andy all aimed their guns at the woman. "Hey, no shootin' as long as we gave you food! We had a deal!" Danny yelled. "What the fuck happened?" he asked.

"You had a deal with THEM. I ain't them," the woman replied, still aiming her crossbow. "I know you, and I know what you are. I know what you do..." She continued to ramble on.

"You don't know me," Danny retorted. "We had a deal, and you people broke it."

"Steal my shit, steal everything from me!" Jolene continued.

"Who the fuck are you?" Lee questioned, his rifle aimed at the woman, who only laughed. He continued, "Look, it's not safe up here in the woods. You gotta come back to the dairy."

"Ha ha! Oh, it's a hell of a lot safer up here than there, you best believe!" Jolene argued, a crazed expression on her dirty face. "Now maybe you didn't hear me last time, when I asked you sweet. Put your damn guns down! You think I won't kill you? I'm gonna take this here crossbow and put a nice, sharp arrow right through your eyeball, and into your goddamn brain. You're not men, you're monsters. Take what they want, destroy it all. Take a can of beans, take a little girl..."

She kept rambling on until Lee interrupted her, "Where did you get this hat?" he yelled.

"The little girl," Jolene said.

"You STOLE it from her!" Lee yelled.

"You stole her from ME!" Jolene yelled right back.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Lee questioned.

"You know what, I changed my mind. I'm shootin' this arrow right through your balls. String 'em up right on that tree there," she said crazily, still aiming her weapon. "Then I'm gonna head down to that farm and kill every person I see."

"Just put your weapon down," Lee tried to persuade. "There's three of us, and one of you. Whatever happens here, one of us are going to kill you," he said.

"Kill me?" Jolene asked incredulously. "You can't kill me, they tried. Killin' everywhere! Take all the dead folks you want, we'll make more! Go on! Tell him, boy! Tell him-" She kept yelling, but was interrupted when Danny shot her right between the eyes. Jolene then fell to the ground dead, and Lee stared incredulously at Andy and Danny.

"You straight up murdered that woman!" Lee yelled.


	9. Suspicious Minds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies on the lack of updates! It's been a busy two months. :/

Back at the farm, it was once again Duck's turn on the swing after a few minutes, Kenny getting up to push him again. Sarah and Clementine sat on the tree stump and chatted together while Carlos looked on. He was glad that his daughter now had some new friends.

The sky was beginning to change color, and for once, things were peaceful. Carlos was lost in thought when he saw Mark and Travis approaching them.

"Hey, Katjaa says you guys can come into the barn now," Mark offered, giving the doctor a light smile.

Kenny heard this and turned his attention to Duck. "You want to go see the cow, boy?"

"Yeah!" Duck eagerly cried, and jumped off of the swing. Sarah saw that everyone was beginning to walk in the barn's direction and ran over to Carlos, knowing what was going on.

"Did you hear that, Dad?" she asked excitedly. "There's a cow! A real animal!"

Carlos chuckled. "I know sweetie. Do you want to go see it?" he asked.

"Yeah, right now!" Sarah nearly yelled, and she grabbed Carlos' hand and ran to the barn to catch up with the others. Once they were at the door, Sarah was holding her breath because of excitement. It had been a while since she had actually gotten to see a real animal, and she couldn't contain her happiness.

Kenny opened the door to the barn, and the small group saw Katjaa sitting beside the cow. "You figure out what was wrong with it?" Kenny asked his wife.

"Yes, it turns out that there was nothing wrong with her at all," Katjaa replied. She turned and smiled softly at the kids. "She's just heavily pregnant, and could have her baby tonight. We'll see, though."

At that, both Clementine and Sarah's eyes lit up in delight. They both sat down in front of the cow, Maybelle, and looked at her in admiration. Duck turned, and saw something that made him curious, and the little boy frowned.

"What's that?" he asked his father, pointing.

Kenny looked where his son was pointing, and raised his eyebrows. "Those are called salt licks, Duck. They're for horses."

"Salt licks?" Clementine inquired. She got up and walked over to them with a questioning expression.

Without hesitation, she picked one up and gingerly stuck her tongue to it. "Ew, gross!" she yelled, blowing raspberries and trying to get the strong taste out of her mouth. The others in the barn were trying to hold back their laughter.

"I guess we know why they're for horses now," Duck said with a small smile.

"You kids can pet her if you want," Katjaa said, referring to the cow.

"Really?" Sarah asked excitedly.

Katjaa nodded. "Just be careful."

Sarah crawled a little closer, and began to gently stroke Maybelle's head. She gasped in amazement; the cow was so soft! She looked over to Carlos and smiled widely. "Maybelle's really soft, Daddy. And pretty, too!"

"I'm sure she is, Sarah," Carlos nodded.

Andy walked in then, and gave the group a nod. He walked over to the back of the barn and inspected the door, and felt around. This caused both Kenny and Carlos to frown; what was he doing? Hopefully nothing suspicious.

"Clementine, can you close the door, please?" Katjaa requested kindly.

Clementine nodded and went to oblige her request, but not before she looked outside and waved. This meant that Lee was back as well. Mark walked forward and looked at the cow. "For a pregnant cow, she's pretty skinny."

"That could be from malnutrition," Katjaa pointed out as Clementine once again loomed over the cow.

The door to the barn opened, and Lee stepped in.

"Lee!" Clementine smiled at her guardian's return.

"Hey, Clem," Lee replied. The salt licks though, also caught his attention. "What's this thing?"

"Daddy says it's called a salt lick," Duck answered.

"Yeah, but don't lick it. It's gross," Clementine said.

"Did you lick it?" Lee asked, amused.

Clem hesitated, "...I don't know."

"Also," Lee started, reaching into his pocket. "I got something for you," he said, pulling out Clementine's hat.

"My hat!" she exclaimed, grabbing it and putting it on her head. "Thank you! I knew you would find it." Once he was done talking to Clementine, Lee made sure the rest of the group in the barn was okay, but after that, Kenny and Carlos pulled him over to the side.

"Lee?" Carlos asked once the kids weren't paying attention. "Can we talk to you for a second?"

"Sure," Lee nodded, walking over to the two men.

"Lee, they're hiding something here," Kenny said lowly, and Carlos nodded towards the door. "I got a peek inside," Kenny continued. "There's a bunch of boxes and metal and stuff, and something sharp."

"We saw Andy come in and check it multiple times," Carlos added.

"Don't get paranoid now," Lee chided.

"It's our job to paranoid," Kenny replied. "Our families are here, and we gotta look out for them. So if these assholes are hiding something from us, we need to figure out what it is." He paused. "What about you? What about Clem?"

"I'll protect her, no matter what," Lee said with a determined nod.

"I know you will," Kenny responded. "Look, that guy with Katjaa, what's-his-name. He was checking around the door, as if he didn't want us pokin' around that area. I definitely heard a noise back there, Lee."

"We have to know for sure," Carlos added quietly.

"So go find a hammer, and I'll have this thing off in a second," Kenny continued. "You back us up in case them farmers come running."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Carlos wanted to know.

"He's right, you might want to think this through," Lee told Kenny. "What if it turns out you're wrong? You just fucked your chance of getting a good meal in those kids you're trying to protect. Use your head, Kenny."

"Alright, professor, what did you have in mind?"

"Let me have a look at what we're dealing with first." Lee turned to the barn door.

"Hey, Lee?" Kenny asked. "You know how to pick a lock, right?"

"No. No! Why would you say that?" Lee asked.

"Well, you're...you know...urban?"

"What?" Carlos asked, raising a thick eyebrow.

"Oh, you are not saying what I think you're saying," Lee added.

"Jesus, man, I'm from Florida! Crazy shit just comes out of my mouth sometimes, sorry," Kenny tried to defend himself.

"See those screws?" Lee asked to Carlos and Kenny. "Instead of breaking the lock, we can just unscrew those screws to get in the door and peek inside, then put the lock back on," he suggested.

"That sounds like a good plan to me," Carlos nodded.

"All right," Kenny said. "I'll hang around and watch that guy with the cow while you get the lock unscrewed."

"Can I help you boys find something?" Andy asked, interrupting their conversation.

Lee hurried and made an excuse, "We're just checking out the barn. I've never been to a dairy farm before," he said with a small shrug.

"Okay, well don't just roam around without me or Danny. The farm can be a dangerous place," Andy replied. "You know, with the bandits and all. Also, don't fuck around with that door. Mama gets nervous."

"Andy, I need your help again!" Katjaa called.

"No problem, doc," he answered, and turned around to leave Carlos, Kenny, and Lee alone again.

"If you need help with anything, let me know," Carlos whispered to Lee, before going to stand back by the cow with all the others. Lee nodded, and went back to carrying out the plan. He knew he was going to have to find a screwdriver or something to get the lock unscrewed, so now he had to go look around for some stuff.

He exited the barn and heard laughter. Larry and Brenda were at the steps of the house, having some old folks' conversation about God-knows-what. Lee shook his head, slightly amused, and went off to find a distraction.

He noticed the generator running just outside the gate, and it gave him an idea. Hopefully there was something in the toolbox on the table nearby that would be useful, so he decided to check it out. He opened up the toolbox, and much to his luck, there was a multitool sitting there, out of place.

Lee raised his eyebrows in satisfaction and picked it up, walking over to the generator. He opened up the panel and worked his magic, causing the generator to shut off. He heard the barn door open and decided that it was best to move away now.

"Fuckin' Danny. Where did he find this piece of shit?" Andy muttered as he knelt by the generator. "Fuckin' thing threw a belt...damn it all to the...son of a...fuuuuck!"

Lee walked back inside the barn where nearly everyone else was. He couldn't help but smile when he saw the kids still admiring the cow, and nodded in Mark and Travis' direction. He was about to head to the door when, suddenly, a bell rang, signaling that it was time for dinner.

"Mom! Dad! Dinnertime! It's dinnertime!" Duck cried excitedly, standing up.

"Okay, honey, let's get Dad," Katjaa replied with a small smile.

Duck obliged, running over to where Kenny was standing with Carlos and Lee. "Dad! Dad! Come on, let's EEEEAT!"

"Kenny, come along, honey," Katjaa said, standing up. "Kenny, come on, don't make the children wait."

Sarah stood up too, smiling widely. She walked over to Carlos and took his hand. "Come on, Daddy. I'm really hungry!"

"Okay, sweetie, I'm coming," Carlos replied, walking out of the barn with his daughter, glancing back at Lee.

"I'll make an excuse for you," Kenny told Lee as he exited the barn as well. "Get that thing off!"


	10. Don't Eat Dinner

Once everybody left the barn, Lee began his work on the lock. Carefully and quietly, he used the multitool to quickly unscrew the four screws holding the lock in place. His palms were sweaty with nerves because he was afraid of getting caught. Hopefully nobody would notice that he was gone.

Finally, the lock was off, and he opened the doors quietly. What he saw, frightened him. There was blood everywhere, and sharp tools, and even a saw. What in the hell was this place? And why did the St. Johns have it locked? He wished Kenny and Carlos were here to see this monstrosity.

"Boy, didn't you hear the bell?" a voice said, and Lee turned around fast to see Andy standing behind him, an angry look on his face. "Dinner's ready," he spoke, slow and solemnly.

"The door was open like that..." Lee lied. "I was just making sure that everyone was inside already."

"It was probably my idiot brother," Andy said simply. "Was anyone with you just now?"

"No," Lee said truthfully.

"Okay, good." After that, thankful that he didn't get caught, Lee made his way inside following behind Andy. He had to admit, he was hungry, and he was looking forward to eating dinner.

In the house, most everybody was already seated at the table. Lilly emerged from the bathroom after washing her hands and took a seat at the table by Sarah, the younger girl offering her a smile. She decided that she liked Lilly.

"Biscuits, wow!" Duck exclaimed as Danny brought a basket full of them in.

"Brenda, you are an angel," Larry commented, probably the nicest words most of the group had heard from him.

"Oh, boy!" Duck cried, bouncing up and down happily.

Lee and Andy had walked into the house, Lee wondering why there was a bookcase hiding part of the hallway.

"Excuse the mess," Andy told him. "We had to block the back door after a walker got upstairs. Don't worry, that was awhile ago and they ain't been back inside since." He walked into the dining room, and Lee couldn't help but wonder why there was a handgun in his back pocket.

"Everybody sit down, and I'll go get the meal," Brenda announced. "Ohh, this _is_ a delight!"

"I could eat a horse!" Kenny piped up.

Lee looked around. Everyone was here and accounted for; all but one person, and that was David. He had to inquire, "Where's David?"

Travis looked around too and frowned. "Yeah...where's Mr. Parker?"

"Now don't you worry about him, I've already brought him some food up. You just let him rest," Brenda said, reassuring the group.

"Mind if I wash my hands before I eat?" Lee asked.

Brenda nodded, "Bathroom's right outside in the hall. And be sure to get under your nails, you've been mucking around in the dirt all day." She smiled.

Lee nodded and headed to the bathroom. He took his time in washing his hands, but he was still curious about these people. They still had to be hiding something from his group. Curiosity got the best of him, so he decided to poke around for a bit. He crept slowly up the stairs, just to make sure they didn't hear him. The first thing he saw was a closet, so Lee decided to take a look in there first. He saw a lot of morphine, and he wondered why the St. Johns needed all that much. Suddenly, a little hole in the wall caught his attention.

"What the...?" he questioned.

After checking out the closet, he moved to the next place, which was a bedroom. There was a light underneath a bookshelf, and it looked pretty suspicious, so he decided to move that out of the way too. There was another door behind the bookshelf. He opened it slowly, and much to his surprise, there lay David Parker on the floor with his other leg cut off.

"Lee..." he barely managed to get out.

"David? What happened to your other leg?" Lee questioned, barely being able to look because there was just so much blood everywhere.

"Don't... Eat... Dinner..." David whispered.

"Lee!" Brenda yelled. "Did you fall in?" Laughter followed after that. "Dinner's down here on the table and everyone's ready to eat."

"Barbecue!" he heard someone yell.

Lee turned around, horrified, and that was when the gravity of the situation hit him: They were eating David's other leg as the main course for dinner. He knew what he had to do next, and stop Clementine from eating that meat.

"Clementine!" he nearly gasped out.

He immediately ran from the room, down the stairs, and into the dining room. He noticed a rifle by Danny, and then turned where Clementine had a piece of meat already on her fork, prepared to take her first bite. Lee quickly jumped in.

"DON'T EAT THAT!" he yelled.

The little girl jumped and looked at her guardian in mid-bite, and slowly put her fork down. Everyone else looked at Lee in confusion, Carlos pausing as he was cutting up Sarah's portion of food.

"Lee, Jesus, man. Did you find something?" Kenny questioned.

"Ah, sit your ass down, Lee!" Larry practically ordered. "This lady has made you a meal!"

"Yeah, Lee, what's gotten into you?" Lilly added.

"You're...eating... _human meat!_ " Lee uttered out slowly.

"Dad, what is he talking about?" Sarah whispered to Carlos.

Carlos grabbed Sarah's fork out of her hand and sat it down. "I know you're really hungry, sweetie, but do not eat that food," he ordered.

Sarah whined, "But Duck's eating his!"

"I don't care," Carlos replied. "Do _not_ eat that food."

"That woman is fucking insane!" Lee yelled, pointing to Brenda.

"She made you a home-cooked meal, show some respect, asshole!" Larry yelled back.

"Thank you, Larry," Brenda replied.

"David is upstairs with NO LEGS!" Lee yelled even louder. "I saw him!"

Travis gasped. "Mr. Parker!? We're EATING Mr. Parker!?" He then turned in his seat and threw up in the floor. He had actually taken a few bites before Lee had made it downstairs in time. "What the fuck?" he gasped as he retched.

Katjaa snatched Duck's plate away. "Mom, I was eating that!" he whined.

"I don't give a shit what you think," Larry interrupted and took a big bite.

"Lee, seriously, what's gotten into you?" Lilly asked.

"Don't indulge him Lilly, it's always something with this guy," Larry said as he continued to eat.

"Brenda, tell me right now that we're eating David," Lee demanded to know as he angrily looked at the older woman.

"It's true..." she trailed off.

"Everything could've turned out okay for you folks," Danny pointed out in a low, creepy voice.

"He would've died anyway! We gotta think about livin'!" Andy pointed out.

"Settle down, honey," Brenda chided. She paused, and then began to ramble. "Growin' up in rural Georgia, you're taught not to waste. It's how I was raised, and how I raised my boys. Now, you got monsters roamin' around that do nothing but eat people! And for what? To continue to rot until they eat some more! Now, we'll put that meat to better use."

"Ugh, I'm gonna puke," Lilly moaned, pushing her plate away.

"You're all sick...sick in the head!" Lee replied.

"Andy is right, we go after people who were gonna die anyways, one way or another!" Brenda continued.

Danny put down his fork. "Like y'all."

Lee looked around. "Clementine, run!"

Clementine jumped, looking surprised. She had nothing to say; she didn't know what to say.

"Nobody's going anywhere!" Andy yelled, getting the gun out from behind and pointing it in every direction. Danny got up and pulled out a rifle, doing the same.

"We've got _lots_ of use for y'all, right here," the younger brother added.

Sarah's eyes widened, and her breathing began to pick up as she looked around. The two brothers were pointing their weapons at the group. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut and gripped Carlos' shirt.

"What the...? What the fucking, fuck!" Larry yelled, pushing his plate of food away.

"Put your guns down!" Lilly yelled. "We're walking out of here!"

"You're not going near my fucking family!" Kenny shouted.

"Mommy, what did I eat?" Duck cried.

It was literal chaos in that dining room. "Everyone calm down, everything will be okay," Lee tried to reason.

"Lee... Lee!" Clementine whined. That's when Andy grabbed her by the hair and pulled her away from the table, a scream coming from her lips.

"I'll kill you!" Lee snarled, getting ready to lunge towards Andy, but he couldn't because Danny stopped him with the rifle. Suddenly, there was a large thump, and everything went quiet. The group looked around for something, but found nothing.

"Please...someone..." It was David. Somehow he had managed to crawl down the stairs, and now everyone saw him. A trail of blood made a path behind him. "Help me..." he barely managed to get out.

"Dad!" Sarah cried. "Make it go away!"

"Clemen-" And that's when Lee was knocked out.


	11. Inside the Meat Locker

A few people yelled out when Lee fell unconscious, but were immediately silenced when Andy loaded his gun again. He turned to Kenny and Larry, his eyes down to narrowed slits. "You two, carry him. The rest of y'all, follow me."

The group had no choice but to obey his orders, and stood up from their chairs. Brenda grabbed David, who was either unconscious or officially dead, and began to drag him none-too gently back upstairs. Andy and Danny led the group outside, where it had begun pouring rain, with their weapons aimed.

"Dad, I'm scared," Sarah whispered, squeezing Carlos' hand tightly. She was shaking like a leaf.

Carlos wished he could say something to comfort her, but he didn't know what words would do to him. The group was walking towards the barn now, and when they arrived at the door, Andrew held up his hand to stop the group.

"Danny, take the vet and the boy back in the house, we may need them for awhile," he instructed. The younger brother nodded and poked Katjaa quite hard with his rifle, starting to lead her away. But Andy stopped him, and said the words Carlos was dreading to hear: "You might want to take the girl, too."

Sarah froze in position, as Danny grabbed her roughly by the wrist, causing her to let out a scream. "D-Dad! DAAAAAD!" she wailed, trying to reach for him.

"Sarah!" Carlos called, attempting to step forward, but Andy aimed the gun at him.

The poor girl was helpless as she was practically dragged back into the house along with Katjaa and Duck. Kenny was heard yelling out angrily, demanding that they bring his family back. Sarah had never felt more terrified in her life. She heard some exchange of words between Danny and Brenda, and the next thing she knew, she found herself in a dark room, the door locking behind her.

"You better not touch my daughter," Carlos spat.

Andy laughed, "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Keep walking." He pointed his gun directly at Carlos, so the Hispanic man had no other choice than to follow the rest of the group into the barn. They watched as Andy approached the door, and began fiddling with the lock to get the door open once again. "In," he ordered, and the group obliged and walked into the room that was locked off.

"Where the hell are you taking us?" Larry demanded to know.

"You'll find out soon enough," Andy replied grimly, and soon the group knew as the older brother led them into a deep freezer.

"What the fuck?" Lilly questioned. "You're locking us in a freezer?!"

Andy laughed. "Gotta keep the meat fresh."

"You sick fuck!" Kenny yelled. "Bring me back my fucking family!" But it was too late, he had already shut and locked the freezer, and the remaining group of survivors were now stuck in there, with no way out.

"Jesus _Christ,_ " Lilly growled. She stumbled over to the corner and immediately began to puke what she had eaten of David. Travis placed his hands to his head and sat on some of the nearby salt licks, while Larry and Kenny placed Lee on the floor, Larry doing it a bit hard.

As worried as he was for his daughter, Carlos realized that he better check on Lee, who was still unconscious.

"I'll look for a way out," Mark offered.

"OPEN THE GODDAMNED DOOR!" Larry demanded, pounding on the door. "YOU CAN'T KEEP US IN HERE! I WILL TEAR YOU FUCKERS APART WITH MY BARE HANDS!"

"Will you stop that banging? We gotta find a way out of here!" Kenny yelled.

There was quite the string of events going on in that meat locker. Larry was pounding the door and screaming obscenities, Lilly was vomiting, Mark and Kenny were searching for a way out, and Carlos was examining Lee with Clementine close by. Luckily, Lee's eyes were starting to flutter open, and he sat up.

"Lee!" Clementine exclaimed, running over to him.

"Are you alright?" Carlos added.

"Ugh...I'm fine," Lee responded.

"It...it was a person! They tried to make us eat a person!" Clementine cried.

"But you didn't do it," Lee reminded her.

"No..." Clementine said.

"But the rest of us did, goddamn it!" Larry yelled.

"Come on, Dad, now's not the time," Lilly interrupted.

"That evil fucker _invited_ me to eat the meat! When the whole time, he _knew_ what it was!" Larry yelled again.

"Stay calm, Dad, we'll deal with it later," Lilly tried to reason.

"They took Sarah," Carlos said to Lee, "and Kenny's family too." He wondered why they hadn't taken Clementine as well.

"Don't worry," Lee replied. "We'll find a way out of here." He then turned to Clementine. "How are you doing, Clem, they didn't hurt you did they?" he asked and the little girl shook her head no.

"OPEN UP!" Larry continued to bang on the door.

"Lee, those psychos have my family, and we're stuck in a damn meat locker! We gotta get the fuck out of here!" Kenny said angrily.

"He's the one that fucking brought us here!" Larry yelled, pointing to Lee.

"Dad, stop!" Lilly begged.

"Lee, I'm scared," Clementine said, pulling on the bottom of Lee's shirt.

"It's okay," he said to her. "We're going to find a way out of here."

"Can I help?" she asked.

"Sure, sweetie," Lee nodded. "Just look around for any loose screws or loose panels. Anything we can use to make a passage out of here."

"Okay," Clementine nodded, and began to look around.

Lee walked over to the back, where some wooden boards were placed against the wall, and pulled it back. He couldn't see anything. "Any chance there could be a hole back here?"

"I already looked, nothing's there," Mark replied with an annoyed sigh. "There's got to be some way out of here..."

"Dad, please, calm down!" Lilly shouted as her father continued to pound on the door and yell. Needless to say, it wasn't helping in the slightest.

"YOU'RE WORSE THAN THE WALKERS!" Larry hollered, clearly ignoring his daughter.

Lee finally walked over to the salt licks, Travis having stood up. He picked one of them up, feeling its heavy weight. Carlos noticed this and crossed his arms, sighing. "I don't suppose we could heave that through the door."

"Nah, the door's too solid," Lee agreed, placing the salt lick back where it was.

"I'll break the damn door down!" Larry yelled.

"Dad, you can't get-" Lilly began.

But she was cut off when Larry stopped pounding on the door and let out a cry of pain, placing his hands on his chest where his heart (or lack thereof) was. He began to grunt, while Lilly had a look of genuine fear on her face.

"Easy..." she coaxed.

"Hhhrrrgggtt...oh, God," Larry whispered.

"Dad?!"

At that, Larry fell to the floor in a heap, causing Clementine to gasp out. No one knew whether Larry was dead or just unconscious; hopefully it was the latter. Lilly knelt beside her father and grabbed his head.

"No! Dad, come on! DAD!" Lilly screamed. "Oh God, he's stopped breathing! I think he's had a heart attack!"

She began doing chest compressions on him, while everyone else stood around and watched. "Somebody help me! Carlos, come on!" She begged. Carlos obliged, and bent down to help Lilly revive her father.

"Everybody get back, give me some room!" he nearly yelled as he began helping Lilly with the chest compressions. "I think there might be a chance we can save him," Carlos said, listening for a breath to come from Larry.

"Really?" Lilly asked incredulously.

"Is he breathing yet?" Carlos asked.

Lilly shook her head. "I don't think so."

"Keep checking his pulse," Carlos ordered, and Lilly obliged. "His heart is trying to start beating again, I can feel it."

"Come on, Dad," Lilly encouraged, "It's not your time yet." The rest of the group watched in curiosity as Carlos tried to revive Larry. Clementine was amazed at Carlos' abilities.

"I've almost got it," Carlos said, continuing the compressions.

Suddenly, Larry's eyes opened slowly. "Dad?!" she almost yelled, tears beginning to come from her eyes. "You're alive?!" she asked incredulously. "Oh my God, thank you so much, Carlos!" She then wrapped her arms tightly around her dad. "I thought I lost you."

"I'm here, Lilly," Larry said gently.

"Holy shit...good job, man!" Kenny praised Carlos. "I thought he was a goner."

"You're not getting rid of me that easily," Larry eyed the mustached man briefly, then looked at his daughter again. "What the fuck happened?"

"You had a heart attack, Dad," Lilly replied. "Just stay where you are, you need to rest."

"We still need to find a way out of here," Lee spoke up.

"Right," Kenny agreed. "Keep looking for anything useful."

Travis heard this and began to look around, along with Kenny, Lee, Mark, and Carlos. Lilly stayed by her father's side, and for once he wasn't yelling at everybody. The teenager finally caught sight of the air vent, and announced this to everyone. "Hey, guys? Maybe there's something behind this unit?"

Lee walked over and examined the unit briefly. "Hmm, you're right. Maybe it's big enough for one of us to fit through."

"Does the air conditioner come off?" Clementine inquired.

"I think I could take it off...if I had something to remove the screws," Lee answered. Then, he remembered something. "The multitool!" He reached into his pocket, only to find that it was gone. "Of course they took it, shit."

"Maybe there's something else we could use," Clem suggested. "I've got a rock."

"A rock won't help, but a coin might do the trick. You got a coin?"

Clementine shook her head. "Uh-uh."

"Here," Larry said, digging into his pockets. "I always carry around loose change." He gave the coin to Lilly, who proceeded to get up and give it to Lee.

"Thanks Larry," Lee said, and began to unscrew the screws out of the wall. Finally, when he was done, he was able to lift the air conditioner and sit it down on the floor.

"Well, there's our way out Lee," Kenny said. "Looks like it'll probably lead right into that back room..." he noted.

"Clementine can fit," Carlos said, looking down at the little girl.

Lee walked over to her, and bent down so he was eye level with her. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to," he said to her. "But do you think you can?"

"I'm scared," she said quietly.

"It's okay to be scared," Lee replied.

"We need you, Clem," Travis said with a small smile.

"You can help all of us, and then we can get right back to the motor inn," Lee tried to persuade.

Clem then took a deep breath, "Okay," she nodded, and Lee hoisted her up inside the vent where the air conditioner just was. "What do I do when I get out?" she asked, turning back to look at Lee.

"See if you can get to the door on the other side," he said, and Clem continued to make her way through the vent. The rest of the group inside the meat locker, waited, and watched the door with hopeful eyes for Clementine. They so desperately wanted to get out of this damned place. They heard a gasp from Clementine, and suddenly the door opened.

"Good job, Clem," Kenny praised.

"Are you okay?" Lee asked, "Did anyone see you?"

"No, but there's a man outside," she answered.

Kenny walked outside of the meat locker, then quietly called back, "Lee, I can see him! Come on!"

"I'll be right there," Lee replied. He walked a few steps, then turned to Clementine. "Stay here with Carlos and Lilly until it's safe to come out, okay?"

"I will," Clementine answered with a few short nods.

"Lee, please, try to be quick," Carlos spoke up. "I need to find Sarah."

Lee nodded and followed Kenny out to the barn, back into the slaughtering room. It felt even creepier inside, and it pained him to know that Clementine had to bear witness to all of this.

"I told you there was something up with this room!" Kenny said. "They made it into a goddamn human slaughterhouse!" He tiptoed over to the door and peeked in on whoever was out there, while Lee looked around. He noticed a mini cattle prod sitting on the edge of the bloody tub, and picked it up.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Lee nearly hissed as Kenny opened up the door.

"Gettin' my family back!" the other man responded.

"What are you gonna do, go up and grab his gun?!"

"Good a plan as any." Kenny opened up the door and stood near the center of the barn, getting into a stealth mode. Lee shook his head; this was probably a dumb idea. But he followed Kenny and got into a similar position. Danny St. John was seated at the front of the barn with his rifle, guarding.

"Who wants some? I dare some dead asshole to try and cross my fence tonight!" Danny challenged nothing in particular.

"Dan, what are you doing outside the barn?" Andy approached his brother, nearly in sight of Lee and Kenny.

"Oh, shit," Kenny whispered. He and Lee sneaked into the nearest stall and closed the door.

They heard Andy talking outside, "Mama said we can't keep that many folks and not expect trouble. Pick one to keep, and kill the rest," he said.

"They're talking about killing us," Lee whispered to Kenny.

"No shit," Kenny replied.

"We'll take him out together," Lee confirmed.

"How?"

"He doesn't know we're out. He's gotta walk past us to get to the freezer. We can take him when his back is to us," Lee explained.

"See what he's doing now." Kenny ordered, and Lee slowly peaked his head outside the stall. When he looked out, he was face to face with the barrel of Danny's rifle. Acting quickly, Lee hurried and grabbed the gun before Danny could fire. The gun went off anyway, causing Lee to grab his ear from the loud noise. But the rifle was still in Danny's hands. That's when Lee used the cattle prod to electrocute the younger St. John brother.

But it was still no use, Danny was able to knock Lee to the ground, and had the rifle pointed right in his face. Lee waited for Kenny to do something, that was when Lilly ran and attacked Danny with a sickle. She stabbed him multiple times, causing him to walk back into the bear trap he had set up moments ago.

Kenny opened the door to the stall. "Lee, Jesus, man, I'm real sorry. I was about to help."

Lee was about to say something when they heard Katjaa shriek out, "Noooo!" At that, Kenny bolted out of the barn to save his wife, and seconds later, a loud scream erupted from what undoubtedly had to be Sarah. By now, Carlos and Clementine had also emerged from the meat locker, and hearing his daughter's screams, Carlos ran out after Kenny.

When they were gone, Lee picked up a pitchfork and aimed it at Danny, who was groaning out in pain from his leg being caught in the bear trap.

"Ergh...you see? You understand now, don't you?" Danny asked of Lee. "You can have _me!_ It's how the world works now! Give part of yourself...so others can live!"

"I should fucking kill you right now," Lilly hissed.

"Just kill him already, Lee!" Larry ordered. "Do something useful for once and off this sick son of a bitch!"

"David never volunteered to be food!" Lee yelled at Danny, his pitchfork still aimed.

"You gotta keep me alive!" Danny continued his sick rant. "If you kill me, the meat gets tainted! You can't eat it!"

"You're already tainted!"

"You ain't gonna kill me...just like you didn't kill Jolene!" Danny taunted. At that, Lee finally threw the pitchfork...into the haystack that was next to Danny. He was proving him right, but he wanted to set a good example for Clementine. Danny flinched away, but seemed surprised that he was alive.

"This is NOT how the world works now!" Lee shouted. "You WON'T make me kill you!"

Lee looked at the barn door, ready to go help the others. "Go," Lilly said. "I'll cover you."

Lee shook his head, "Just stay here with your dad and watch Clementine," he ordered. "I'll be right back." He then made his way outside the barn, and it was more than dark outside by now, and the rain was pouring everywhere. "Kenny?" he yelled out, but received no answer. "Carlos?" he yelled as lighting flashed in the sky.

Suddenly, he heard a rustling over by the fence, and much to his surprise, it was Carley and Ben. "Carley!" he almost shouted.

"Is everyone okay? You guys have been gone way too long," she replied.

"We need your help," Lee answered.

She nodded. "Yeah, when you guys didn't come back I figured something was up."

"Is Travis okay?" Ben asked. "And what about Sarah?"

"They're both fine," Lee answered, "But I don't know about David."

"Mr. Parker?" he questioned. "What happened?"

"They chopped off his other leg and tried to feed it to us!" Lee answered.

"Oh my God!" Carley exclaimed.

"They've still got Katjaa, Duck, and Sarah in the house, and I don't know where the fuck Kenny or Carlos is," he said. "But Larry, Lilly, Clem, Mark, and Travis are back in the barn."

"Alright, we're coming in to help," Carley said.

"The main entrance is too dangerous. Go around the fence and see if there's another way in," Lee ordered. "I'll keep looking for Carlos and Kenny. Do you have a weapon?" he asked.

"I don't leave home without it," she answered, holding up her pistol. "Ben, stay close. And Lee, be careful."

Lee then decided right then and there that he had to make his way to the house.


	12. Fight and Escape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the long wait for the next chapter, especially since this has been a finished work for a while now. I'll get the rest of the chapters up ASAP. Thank you for reading!

Lee crouched down and decided to sneak his way over to the house, the rain still pouring down on him. He walked slowly, making sure to be careful. Something had to be going on in there, and Lee could tell when Katjaa began yelling.

"No, please God, NO!" she shouted.

"Just shut up and he'll be fine!" Brenda chided.

There was a pause, and then Lee could hear Andy's voice. "Something's up. I'm gonna take the boy and check around back."

"No, please, don't take my boy!" Katjaa begged.

"Let go, woman."

"L-Let me...let me out! Let me out!" Sarah was heard next as she let out gasps of breath, and a loud knocking noise followed. "Let me go...I...I want...I need my-"

"Settle down, I don't wanna hurt y'all!" Brenda yelled at the two females. By now, Lee was almost to the porch of the house, and finally, Brenda's somewhat large frame could be seen. "Andy? Danny, is that you? What's going on out there?"

Lee didn't hesitate with his answer. "I left Danny in the barn. He got what he deserved!"

"Oh God..." Brenda muttered, walking away from the screen door. "Come here!"

"Let me go!" Katjaa yelled.

Lee stood up and walked to the door, and he noticed that Brenda was holding Katjaa hostage by the stairs. There was a chair propped up by the door to the right of them, and Sarah could be heard pounding on the door. She was crying softly and whimpering pleas to be let out.

"Lee!" Katjaa cried.

"Get back! Don't come in here!" Brenda ordered. "You just HAD to go snooping around, didn't you?!"

"Let her go, Brenda!" Lee said as he slowly moved to open up the screen door. He made his way inside, and stopped abruptly once he saw that Katjaa was held at gunpoint.

"Lee, please, don't you take another step!" Brenda warned, backing up just a bit.

"Brenda, come on, you know you don't wanna do this," Lee tried to persuade, taking a few more baby steps to get closer to Brenda.

"Just go away and leave us be!" Brenda yelled. He took this time to walk a few more extra steps, until Brenda pointed the gun at him. "Stop right there, I mean it!" she warned, backing up the stairs while holding on to Katjaa.

"Think about your husband, Brenda," Lee said. "He wouldn't have wanted the dairy to turn out like this!"

"I'll kill her, Lee!"

"Don't do this..." Katjaa barely managed to get out. Lee then took a few more steps forward, and that's when the lightning flashed and he noticed David at the top of the stairs. He had turned into a walker, and from that moment, Lee knew what he had to do. He kept making Brenda back up the stairs, until finally David was able to grab her, and Katjaa was freed. However, Brenda was bitten.

"Katjaa?" Lee asked. "Are you okay?"

"They took Duck! Where's Kenny?" she asked frantically.

As if to answer her question, they heard Andy yell from outside, "I said don't you move, asshole!"

"Don't you fucking hurt him!" Kenny yelled back.

"Oh my God!" Katjaa screamed and ran outside. Before Lee left though, he turned to the door that had the chair in front of it, and moved it so Sarah could be freed.

Once the door was unlocked, the door was opened and Sarah nearly stumbled out, shaking and looking around. She wanted her dad; where was he? She looked over at Lee as if to silently ask, and he beckoned her out of the house.

"Let him go, goddamn it!" Kenny ordered, and Katjaa and Lee were horrified to see Andy holding Duck hostage, his rifle aimed at the back of the child's head.

Sarah turned and noticed Carlos coming around the corner of the house, and she bolted over towards him, hugging him tightly and burying her face in his chest. "D-Daddy...Daddy!" she whimpered.

"Shh, I've got you, honey," Carlos tried to soothe, rubbing her back. He watched the scene unfold in front of him, and he wanted to get his daughter out of this hellhole as quickly as possible. But right now, that wasn't an option.

"That ain't gonna happen!" Andy growled at Kenny.

"Andy, don't!" Lee nearly pleaded.

"Shut up!"

Kenny tried to run over towards his son, but that was a bad move, because Andy immediately shot him in the stomach, sending him down and causing Katjaa to scream in absolute terror, running over to his aide.

"DAAAAD!" Duck yelled.

"Sarah, stay close to Carley and Ben, okay? I need to check on Kenny," Carlos asked of his daughter, who nodded and quickly ran over to where the two were waiting with Mark and Travis. She hid behind Ben and clutched onto his school jacket, peeking out from behind.

"Andy..." Lee began, holding his hands up.

"Who the fuck do you people think you are?" Andy demanded. "Look at what you've done!"

"Calm down..." Lee stepped forward slowly.

"Calm down? What for, huh? All we wanted was some goddamn gasoline-" But he was interrupted when a bullet flew into his ear, causing him to accidentally let go of Duck. It turned out to be Carley who had shot near him.

That's when Lee sprinted for him, and wrestled the man for his gun. Meanwhile, Duck made his way back into his parents' arms. Lee managed to get the gun from Andy, and hit him in the face with it. The two men then stumbled, and rolled down a small hill, fighting each other along the way. The rest of the group watched as Lee and Andy took turns delivering blows to each other. Until finally, Andy was able to get away from Lee, and turn on the generator, causing the fence to turn on.

"Get up, get the fuck up," Andy said, picking up Lee by his shirt. He slowly drug him over to the electric fence. Lee fought hard, he wasn't going to die like this. He was going to make these assholes pay.

"Lilly, help!" Lee yelled as he saw Lilly with Clementine at the barn door, but she never shot her gun. That didn't matter though, as Lee was finally able to get away from the fence. He pushed Andy, and got the man on the ground. From there, he was able to continuously punch the cannibal in the face. The remaining group members, Carlos, Sarah, Lilly, Clementine, Larry, Ben, Travis, Mark, Carley, and Kenny's family just stood there and watched.

Finally, Carley stepped forward. "Lee, that's enough," she said, and Lee stood up. "He's had enough," she added.

"Is that all you got, Lee?" Andy yelled. "You ain't shit!"

"It's over!" Lee screamed.

"Fuck you. As soon as Dan and Mama get out here, you're all fucked!"

"They're not coming!" Lee said.

Andy stood up, "Lee, what the fuck do you mean?"

But Lee didn't reply, he just began walking away. He was done with this; he was going to leave and get Clementine and the rest of his group back to the motor inn.

"Don't you DARE walk away from me, Lee!" Andy commanded, but Lee ignored him, and he dropped to his knees in defeat. "Get back here and finish this, Lee!"

Lee stopped, and looked from Andy to his watching group. Should he finish this once and for all, and kill Andy? Or simply walk away? After a moment's decision, he chose the latter. He wasn't determined to become some killing machine like the St. Johns.

"Get back here and fight me like a man, Lee!" Andrew called, but that wasn't helping as Lee walked over to his group.

"LEEEEE...eeee."

"They're getting in!" Clementine cried, pointing over to the fence. And she was right; walkers were beginning to stumble through the electric fence, which was now shut off due to the heavy rain, knocking it over.

"Lee!" Andy called one final time.

"Let's go," Lee told his group, and Clementine ran to catch up with him. Lilly was the last to leave; she turned and noticed Brenda, who was now a walker, coming out of the house and towards Andy, who wasn't moving from his spot. She gave the man a glare, as he and his family had nearly caused her father's death, before following her group.

Once the group reached the woods, it had nearly stopped raining. Nobody seemed to care that they were drenched; they were just glad to be away from that awful place.

"Hey Lee, I'd say I'm sorry for leaving the motel unattended, but...ya know," Carley said.

"I'm glad you showed up when you did," Lee replied. "If you hadn't taken that shot at Andy, we might not have gotten out of there alive."

"Were they really...killing people? For food?" Carley asked almost incredulously.

"Yeah. And Clementine almost ate some. But I stopped her. I can't leave her alone, Carley. This fucking world, now. It's hiding just...unspeakable shit at every turn."

While they were having that conversation, Carlos and Sarah were walking behind them, Sarah clutching her father's hand as if she were afraid that someone would grab her again. She didn't like those people, not even when they were nice.

Lilly walked away from Larry and approached Carlos, walking on the other side of him. "Hey, Carlos? I just wanted to say, thank you again for saving my dad's life. God, you don't know how grateful I am." She gave him a small smile, and Carlos could tell that this was a side of her that was rare to see.

"Don't mention it, Lilly..." he replied. "It's what I do."

"Well, if there's anything I can do for you, just let me know, okay?" she said, smiling, then went to catch back up with her father.

"Dad?" Sarah asked, pulling on her father's sleeve.

"Yeah sweetie?" he asked, looking down at her.

"I like Lilly," she said simply with a small smile. "She's nice."

Meanwhile, Duck was pestering his father. "Are you okay, Dad? Did it hurt?" he kept asking, since Kenny had been shot trying to save his son.

Kenny waved it off. "I'm fine, just not as young as I used to be."

"Clementine, stay close," Lee said, waiting for the little girl to catch up.

"Lee, are those bad people dead?" she asked.

"We didn't kill them, so I don't know. They might have been able to get away from the walkers, but I'm sure they won't be coming after us," he answered.

"That's good," Clementine replied.

Duck interrupted their conversation, "Hey Dad, what's that noise?" he asked.

"Sounds like a car..." Kenny trailed off, trying to listen to it.

"Oh God...not more strangers..." Ben said. The group then walked forward quietly, just in case there actually was somebody out here. But they kept walking, until an actual car came into view. They were all surprised.

"Hello?" Lee questioned.

He and Kenny slowly sneaked up to the car, its front doors still open. Lee looked inside and noticed that the gas tank was empty, which caused him to frown. "Figures." He took the keys and was about to look around some more when Kenny spoke up.

"Oh, crap!" he exclaimed, looking at the trunk. "Baby, you gotta see this! There's a shitload of food and supplies back here!" he called to Katjaa.

That made the rest of the group come over to the car. Looking in, they realized that Kenny was right.

"This food could save all of us!" Katjaa cried.

"This is enough to last us for weeks!" Travis added.

After a pause, Ben spoke up. "Look, we don't know if these people are dead."

"If they come back, then we're just monsters who came out of the woods and ruined their lives," Lilly pointed out.

"Where are these people at though, Lilly?" Larry chastised, turning to his daughter.

"But this stuff isn't ours," Clementine pointed out.

"Dad, whose car is it?" Duck inquired.

"Don't worry about that, Duck, it's ours now," said Kenny.

"It's abandoned, Ducky, don't worry," Katjaa added.

"But what if it's not?" Clementine interjected. "What if it's not abandoned? What if it is someone's?"

"Wouldn't that be stealing?" Sarah spoke up innocently, looking from Carlos to the rest of the group.

After a moment, Lee made a decision. "You're right, we shouldn't take this," he said, walking over to Clementine.

"Fine," Kenny said. "Suit yourself, the rest of us are taking this stuff," he said to Lee and Carlos who stood firmly by their little girls. They watched as the rest of the group rummaged through the trunk of the car. "Okay, what have we got in here?" Kenny said, mostly to himself as he looked through the items.

"Look, there's more food in that box!"

"They have antibiotics! Is there any more?"

"What else do they have?"

"See if there's any water..."

"Lee, there's a hoodie in here that could probably fit Clementine," Katjaa called out. Lee only looked down at the little girl and she shook her head no.

"She's good, thanks," Lee answered.

"Whatever, man. It's gonna get cold out eventually," Kenny replied.

Carley approached Lee at that moment. "Hey, there were some batteries in one of those boxes. I thought they might work in your camcorder." She fished some out of her pocket and held them out to Clementine. "Here, you can have some too. For your walkie-talkie."

"Batteries, huh? You sure you can handle those?" Lee asked, somehow amused.

"You're never gonna let me live that down, are you?" Carley smirked. This seemed to be an inside joke between the two of them. She looked down at the camcorder and frowned. "Oh, God. Lee, you're gonna want to see this."

Lee looked at the camcorder and looked a bit surprised. "Oh, shit."

After he watched the video, he had a pained expression on his face. Carlos noticed this and couldn't help but wonder, as he officially trusted Lee as of now.

"Are you okay?" he asked him.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Lee nodded. The two men looked over at the others, who were carrying all of the food and supplies by now. Kenny beckoned the others away, and they began to make the rest of the trip back to the motor inn.

Carlos sighed as he gave Sarah's hand a gentle squeeze. This had been one hell of a day...


	13. Traitors and Tiger Lily Drawings

A few days later, the remaining group were settled back in safely at the motor inn. Even though they were still shaken up about things that happened at the dairy farm, they were slowly but surely managing. And since Kenny and the rest of the group had taken those supplies from the trunk of that car they found in the woods, they were well stocked on food and supplies. However, Carlos, Sarah, Lee, and Clementine didn't want any of those food and supplies.

Other than that though, things were fine between everyone. The kids were getting along great, and even the adults were getting along somewhat. Things were relatively quiet around the motel, and in this day and age, that was a very good thing.

Ben, on the other hand, knew something everyone else didn't: there was a group of bandits spying on the motel. Their leader had cornered him when no one else was looking and told him that they'd had one of his friends in their hostage, and in order to see that friend again, Ben would have to give the bandits a little bit of supplies every day; otherwise, they would kill his friend. Needless to say, Ben didn't feel right about stealing, but he knew that he had to do it.

At the moment, Carlos had just finished checking on Kenny's wound, which didn't appear to be infected. Nearby, Sarah and Duck were sitting on the hood of the truck, talking. Sarah was swinging her legs as she listened to Duck intently.

"So then, after that, me and my mom went to the store and-" Carlos could hear Duck talking all the way on the other side of the lot of the motor inn. He decided that he should go check on his daughter.

"You doing okay, Sarah?" Carlos asked as he approached his daughter and Duck.

"I'm fine, Daddy," she smiled.

"What about you, Duck?" Carlos asked.

"Yup! I'm okay," he replied.

Sarah interrupted, "Oh, Dad, I was talking to Lilly earlier and she said that she wanted to talk to you when you weren't busy. I think she's in her room," she explained. "You should go talk to her, it seemed important."

"I will, sweetie," Carlos said. "Be good, okay?" he said, and began to head to Lilly's room. He wondered what in the world she had to talk about.

Once he arrived, he knocked on her door knowing that it would probably be rude to barge in. "Lilly? It's Carlos."

A few moments later, the door opened to reveal Lilly, and it was clear that she had been expecting him. "Hey," she greeted.

"Sarah said you wanted to talk to me about something," Carlos told her.

Lilly nodded. "Come on in." She held the door open for him.

He walked inside, and she shut the door behind him. "What's all this about?" he asked, sitting down on the bed. "Sarah said that it sounded important."

"It's not really that important," Lilly replied.

"Okay good," Carlos sighed of relief. "You had me worried there for a minute."

Lilly sighed, "I actually wanted to talk to you about Sarah, if that's okay," she said, hesitantly. "I mean, I know it's not much of my business, but I just wanted to know more about her. She seems like such a sweet girl."

Carlos had to smile a little at that statement, as he agreed wholeheartedly. But he was a bit curious too, as he didn't imagine Lilly being all that interested in kids.

"What is it you would want to know about her?" Carlos inquired. "I can tell you anything."

"Well, she's different," Lilly pointed out. "That's obvious."

"She's always been that way," Carlos replied.

"Do you know why?" Lilly asked curiously. "I'm not trying to be rude or anything-"

Carlos interrupted before she could continued, "I know, and it's okay. A lot of people asked about her. Her teachers, her babysitter, other kids...I've gotten used to it. And to answer your question, I really don't know why she's like that," Carlos answered. "I never thought about questioning it. I like that she's different."

"It's not a bad thing," Lilly responded, shaking her head. "A few of the others were curious about her, too. Lee, Carley, Katjaa. That's why I wanted to ask."

Carlos nodded in understanding. "I don't mind. Is there anything else you wanted to know?"

"Hopefully nothing else too personal," Lilly answered. "Just so I can remember, she's twelve, right? Or thirteen?"

"She's thirteen, her birthday was a few weeks ago."

"Tell her I said happy birthday," Lilly smiled.

"I will," Carlos replied. "She really likes you, you know that?" he asked. He didn't know why his daughter was so fond of the woman, but he was glad that she had found a new friend.

"I wonder why," Lilly joked, laughing slightly. "Everyone else here seems to think that I'm some damn Nazi."

"You're really not that bad," Carlos tried to assure her. Sure, she could cut down on the arguing and bickering that happened in front of his daughter, but other than that, the Hispanic man didn't really have any other complaints. He trusted Lilly around Sarah, and just in general.

Outside, Sarah was walking over to where Clementine was drawing when she accidentally bumped into none other than Larry, the only person that she didn't like around here. Larry glared down at her, and she looked up at him with wide eyes.

"S-Sorry! Sorry, I-I didn't mean to," Sarah apologized, hurrying away from the much taller man. If Larry said anything back to her, she didn't hear it, and continued on her way.

She looked over at Lilly's room, and wondered what they were talking about in there. Curiosity got the best of her, so she decided to go see what was taking her dad so long.

"Well I'm glad somebody around here thinks so," Lilly replied with a smile before hearing a faint knock on the door. "Come in!" she called out, and the door opened slowly.

"It's just me," Sarah said softly before entering the room. "I wanted to see what was taking so long," she confessed.

"We were just talking," Lilly said.

"Oh," Sarah answered, placing her hands behind her back innocently. She turned and smiled at Lilly.

"Is there something you need, honey?" Carlos wanted to know.

Sarah shook her head. "I just wanted to see what was going on. What were you talking about?"

"We were talking about you, actually," Lilly said truthfully. "I just wanted to know a little more about you, so I thought I'd ask your dad," she added with a small smile.

"You should have just talked to me!" Sarah replied. "Oh, and I almost forgot. Here, Lilly," she said while pulling something out of her pocket. It was a folded up piece of paper. "I drew you something," she added, handing the piece of paper to the older woman. "I hope you like it."

"That's very nice of you sweetie," Carlos praised his daughter.

"Lilly's my friend, so I thought it would be a good idea to make her something," she confessed.

Lilly, after she got over looking a bit surprised, unfolded the paper and smiled, and Sarah's eyes lit up when she saw the smile. She had drawn a bouquet of purple tiger lilies, vase and all, in front of a windowsill. She figured that Lilly would like it, since the flowers matched her name.

"Do you like it?" she inquired. "I was thinking of making a picture for everyone here at the motor inn!"

"Yes, I do," Lilly replied. "Thank you, Sarah. It's very pretty."

Sarah beamed, and at that moment, Lilly's watch (that was seated on her bedside table) beeped. The older woman looked at it and noticed that it was time for switch positions for who was on watch.

"Looks like it's my turn to keep watch," she mused, then stood up. "We should talk again later," she added before leaving her room. Making her way outside, she noticed Mark was still atop the RV doing his watch shift.

"My turn up?" he asked and the woman nodded. "Okay," he said, and climbed down off of the RV slowly.

"How does it look out there?" she asked Mark.

"It's pretty quiet out there," he answered honestly.

"That's good," she mused. "Go make sure that the others are doing what they're supposed to be doing," she ordered.

"Will do," Mark said, before walking off. "Oh, by the way, have you seen that kid Ben? He's been slipping off every now and again," Mark noted.

"You should ask Travis," Lilly said. "He might know." After all, they were friends. But she was glad that this information about Ben had been given to her. Nobody knew but her, that some supplies had been coming up missing this past day or two, and now she could make an investigation of it.

Whenever Lilly found out who had been taking the supplies (whether it was Ben or someone else), they would be dealt with accordingly. Some of those supplies contained her dad's nitroglycerin pills, and she didn't want to know what would happen if he didn't have them. She knew that it couldn't be Lee, Kenny, or Carlos since they all had families (you could practically say that, in Lee's case) to look after.

Lilly put on that familiar frown as she thought about this. She would be damned before she let her dad die from lack of medication. Not now, Lilly, she chided herself. Deal with it later. She looked over at Carlos, who was talking with Mark and Lee.

There was a feeling about him that she couldn't quite shake off...maybe they should talk again later?


	14. Supply Run Gone Wrong

A few more days passed and tensions were beginning to rise. Lilly was beginning to grow suspicious of not only Ben, but Carley too. Were they both planning something? She didn't know for sure, but the list of people she trusted was growing smaller, little by little.

"THAT'S RIGHT, FUCKER, NOW STAY OUT!" Her dad's voice cut off her thoughts. Lilly looked up and remembered that Larry was currently on watch, something he didn't normally do as he was the one to work on the wall.

"What happened, Dad?" Lilly asked cautiously, slowly approaching the RV.

"Some asshole was trying to sneak into the motel," Larry explained, his familiar frown crossing his features. He lowered the rifle he was holding. "Didn't try anything, luckily. That coward ran away when I pointed the gun at him."

Lilly nodded once. This was the most eventful thing to happen in a few days, other than that things were extremely quiet.

"Hey Dad, why don't you take a break and let someone else keep watch for a little while," she began to coax. After everything that happened at the dairy farm, she wanted her father to take it easy. She didn't want to risk losing him again.

Larry scoffed, "I'm fine, okay? A few punks hiding out in the woods isn't going to give me a damn heart attack. Quit worrying so much, Lilly," he chided. Damn, he could be stubborn as hell at times; now Lilly knew where she got it from.

"Dad, you almost died a few days ago. Remember?" she retorted.

"I'm here now though, ain't I?" he asked. "That's gotta count for something."

Lilly sighed and stared at the ground, knowing that Larry wouldn't come down so willingly. "Fine, just...try to stay calm. Please," she nearly begged. Larry ignored her, so that was her cue to walk away to check on the supplies. She knew that someone would have to go on a run very soon.

Meanwhile, Lee had exited his motel room and decided to check on Clementine, where she was kicking around a soccer ball with Sarah. The two girls appeared to be having fun. He made his way towards the nine-year-old.

"Are you okay, Clementine?" he inquired.

"I'm okay," Clem responded, kicking the ball back over to Sarah.

"How about you, Sarah?" Lee asked. The teenager smiled and nodded.

Clementine appeared to have something on her mind. "Lee?"

"Yeah?"

"I still feel bad about the things we took from that car," the little girl explained. "We'll have our own supplies again soon...right?"

Lee couldn't exactly guarantee what Clementine had wanted, as most places in Macon had been picked clean by this point. But he knelt down to her level and replied, "I'm sure we'll have something soon, sweet pea. I don't feel right about everyone taking from that car, either, but it's too late now. We won't stay short-lived forever, okay?"

Clementine smiled, seemingly satisfied with his answer. "Okay."

As if reading his mind, Carlos came up and approached Lee. "The supplies are getting low, and I'm afraid that we won't have enough food to keep everyone satisfied. Kenny just told me the stuff that they found in the car wouldn't last long anyway, but that still leaves me, you, Clem, and Sarah without food," he pointed out.

"Clem and I were just talking about that," Lee said. "So you think we should go on a supply run?" he asked.

Carlos nodded. "That seems like our best option."

"Okay," Lee agreed. "Let's get a small group and see what we can find." After that conversation, Carlos went to inform Lilly that he, Lee, Mark, and Kenny were going on a quick supply run to see what they could find. After all, they wanted to get to it first before any other survivors stumbled upon it.

"We should be back before it gets dark," Carlos said, looking down at Lilly.

"Be careful," she replied, "And bring back as much stuff as you can find."

Carlos nodded. "Look after Sarah while I'm gone, okay? She'll listen to you."

"Got it," Lilly answered.

Sarah ran up to her father. "Daddy, where are you going?" she asked.

Carlos closed his eyes momentarily. He hated having to leave his little girl, but he knew that he needed to do it. He opened his eyes and placed his hands on her shoulders. "I'm going on a supply run with Lee, Mark, and Kenny, sweetie. I promise we won't be gone long, okay?"

"Okay," Sarah replied, looking a bit downcast. "You'll come back with food, right?"

"Don't worry, we will. Okay?" Carlos asked with a small smile as he gently rubbed her shoulders. This comforted Sarah a little, and she gave him a ghost of a smile in return.

"Are you ready?" Mark asked, walking up to the two.

"I am," Carlos answered, giving his daughter a couple of pats on the shoulder before following the others out of the motor inn. Sarah and Clementine watched them go, before the younger of the two decided to keep her friend's mind occupied and walked away, gesturing for the older to follow.

Clem lead Sarah over to the little table and began teaching her how to do a leaf rubbing; Sarah seemed to be getting the hang of it. Both girls looked up when they noticed Ben approaching them.

"Hey, girls," he greeted, kneeling down so that he was sitting on his knees next to them. "What are you doing?"

"We're making leaf rubbings, Clem's showing me," Sarah replied, giving the older boy a small smile as she picked up a red crayon.

Ben smiled back at her, and began to reach into his back pocket. "I have something here for both of you guys."

"What is it?" Clementine asked.

"Close your eyes first," Ben ordered, and both girls obliged. "Okay, now you can open them," he said once he had reached into his back pocket to pull out what he had been planning to give them.

"Stickers!" Sarah yelled.

"Chalk!" Clem reciprocated.

"Thanks, Ben!" they both said together.

"Do you know how many leaf rubbings we can do with chalk?" Clem asked, excitedly.

"It's no problem," Ben replied. "I found them in a drawer in one of the rooms and I thought you guys would like it."

"We'll draw you something now, okay?" Sarah said, and the two girls went back to diligently working on their artwork.

Meanwhile, Lee, Kenny, Carlos, and Mark had already made it to the drug store. Surprisingly, there were few walkers lingering around outside. "We have to hurry," Lee ordered. "We don't want to get trapped." It had looked as if the drug store hadn't been touched since he and the group had first left here. But if that was the case, then that meant that there wasn't much food left for them to take.

"Looks like this is our lucky day," Kenny pointed out.

"Maybe," Lee agreed, holding his rifle carefully. He briefly glanced over at the drug store and sighed; he still missed his family, but he knew that he had to keep going. The four men stopped walking in front of a large truck.

"Okay, just like last time," Kenny instructed. "Over the rig, into the pharmacy and scrape together whatever supplies are left."

"We didn't leave much in there," Lee pointed out.

Kenny didn't reply and began climbing the ladder to the top, with Mark and Carlos following. The ladder nearly fell apart when Carlos tried to climb up, but Mark was able to grab his hand and help him to the top.

"Thanks," Carlos turned to him gratefully.

"Shit," Kenny swore. "I don't know how many trips she's got in her," he added, referring to the ladder.

"I'm not sure how many more trips we've got in us," Lee replied. Now, he needed to find a way up to the top of the truck.

He was able to move an army car so that he could make it over. He climbed on top, and had Mark pull him over so that he was on top. "Come on, let's get going," Lee said, and that's when they heard someone's screams echoing in the distance.

"What the hell is that?" Carlos asked, as they all looked around to see where the noise was coming from. A woman then ran out from one of the nearby buildings screaming at the top of her lungs with walkers following after her.

"A walker?" Kenny asked.

"Walkers don't scream. Do they?" Mark said.

"Jesus, I don't think so," Lee replied, holding up his gun so that he could get a better view of the woman.

"We have to help her," Carlos pointed out.

"No we don't," Kenny retorted. "She's probably already bitten, I mean, look at her."

"NO! GO AWAY! SOMEONE...AHHH!" the woman screeched, letting out another scream of terror. One walker bit into her shoulder and another bit into her leg, causing her to let out an even louder scream. Lee slowly aimed his rifle towards her.

"No, don't!" Kenny tried to reason. "If we leave her alive, then it'll buy us some time! Shooting her will only draw them right to us!"

"We can't just let her suffer!" Lee argued.

"We don't know if-" Carlos began.

"Think about it!" Kenny cut him off. "The longer she stays alive, the more supplies we can bring back to the motel quickly!"

It was at this moment that Lee had to make a decision, and quickly. He eventually figured that since there were four of them, they would bring back a good amount of supplies. So, he decided to put the poor girl out of her misery and shot her clear in the forehead.

"Now look what you did!" Kenny glared at him.

"Come on!" Mark cried, beckoning the others over to the back door of the pharmacy. He, Lee, Carlos, and Kenny ran inside and closed the door, the groans of the walkers coming ever so close. They began to grab as many supplies as they could.

"We don't have much time left," Carlos warned. He noticed that the walkers were closing in on them, and if they didn't get out of here right now, then they would be trapped. And they all knew that they wouldn't be able shoot their way out of these walkers. Suddenly, walkers burst through the door.

"Shit!" Mark yelled.

"Come on, we got to go!" Kenny ordered, grabbing the items they collected and quickly shoving them into the small backpack they had brought. They didn't have much time now, as walkers were closing in. They all climbed over top the counter and tried to run out, but that's when another door had burst open.

"Kenny, somebody, help!" Lee begged, trying to push the door, and incoming walkers off him.

Mark ran over and decided to help him, both men using their strength to push up the door. Lee was able to get up, but unfortunately, Mark wasn't so lucky. One of the walkers pulled him back and bit into his shoulder, causing the bespectacled man to scream out.

"Mark!" Carlos yelled, his eyes widening.

"Ugh...go! Go!" Mark cried, clutching his bleeding shoulder. Kenny got over his shock in a second and climbed out of a small hole that served as their exit. "GO, DAMN IT!" Mark yelled. "I'm not getting out of - AHHH!" He let out a screamed as he was pulled to the ground, a few walkers beginning to munch into him as their next meal.

Lee, Carlos, and Kenny now stood outside the drug store, and the events of what just happened ran through their minds. "I can't believe that shit just happened," Kenny said.

"Mark's gone," Lee stated the obvious.

"We should get moving though," Carlos suggested. "Walkers could still be following us."

Lee nodded. "Yeah, let's go." The three then made their short way back to the motor inn. They couldn't have been gone for more than an hour or so, but still, everyone back at the motel was anxiously awaiting their return. When they finally got back, Ben was keeping watch, and Clementine appeared to be talking on her walkie talkie.

"You're back!" she exclaimed, running up to Lee. "Ben found some stickers in a drawer and I put them on my walkie."

"Hey, sweet pea, that's neat. I'll find you in a minute," Lee replied.

"Where's Sarah, Clem?" Carlos asked.

"She's with Lilly," she answered. "Where's Mark?"

Lee paused, but knew that it was best to answer the little girl with the truth. "Mark's gone, Clem," he stated in a solemn voice. "Walkers overran the store...he wasn't as lucky as the rest of us."

Clementine appeared to understand what Lee was telling her, and hung her head down low. "Oh..."

"Yeah, it was horrible," Lee deadpanned. "Listen...why don't you find Duck or Sarah and play with them for a while?"

"Okay," Clem nodded, and walked off. She gripped her walkie talkie in her right hand.

Kenny, Lee, and Carlos made their way to Lilly's bedroom, Kenny knocking on her door. The door opened up to reveal Lilly, who looked relieved for just a minute, but when she noticed that Mark wasn't present, she had to ask. "What happened?"

Lee told her the same thing he'd told Clementine, and Lilly actually looked a bit glum. "Damn."

"That's horrible," Sarah spoke up from where she was sitting on the bed.

"Sarah, why don't you go play somewhere else for a little bit so the grown-ups can talk?" Carlos asked.

She smiled. "Okay, Dad." She stopped to hug him. "I'm glad you're back safe." Then she went to play with Clementine.

"Looks like we got the kid on watch again..." Kenny noticed.

"What'd you get?" Lilly asked, ignoring him.

"Might as well leave a sign that says, the men are gone, come rape our women and children," Kenny continued.

"Ha," Lilly said dryly. "If you're going to be a smartass, Kenny, then you can go. I'll just talk to Lee and Carlos," she said, crossing her arms. "So, what did you get?" she asked again.

"A lot of stuff," Carlos said, and Kenny handed her the book bag.

"We're fine, by the way," he added sarcastically.

Lilly dumped the supplies out onto her bed and counted them, "Nice work. This will keep us going," she praised. "If we keep going like this, we'll get through the winter here."

"The winter?! We'll freeze our asses off here!" Kenny retorted. "And I'll do whatever it takes to keep all of us safe!"

"We're already safe," Lilly said, crossing her arms.

"We do whatever is best for the kids," Lee spoke up. "Doesn't that make sense?"

"I agree with that," Carlos replied, nodding once.

"It's suicide out there!" Lilly said with a glare.

"We'll die in here," Kenny argued.

"You're right; you could see someone sleeping and kill one of us."

"At it again, are we?" Carley asked, walking up to the arguing pair. She seemed to be getting tired of all the bickering that went on around here, and it was perfectly safe to say that she wasn't the only one.

"Can it, Carley," Kenny shot at the smaller woman.

"Look, perhaps we should make a decision as a group," Carlos tried to reason. "Lee is right, we need to do what's best for the kids. I've got my daughter that I need to look out for, too. We can't sit here arguing forever."

"We're strongest together," Lee pointed out.

"Ken, we're all losing it," Katjaa said to her husband. "With the attacks, and lack of food, we all need to keep it together."

"What about the food situation? Protection? What about when this place falls? Somebody's gotta be thinking about this shit," Kenny argued.

"How has this not been working?" Lilly asked. "We have everything we need."

"I agree with Lilly," Carlos commented.

"Of course you would," Kenny rolled his eyes.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Carlos questioned.

"Cut the shit," Lee ordered. "No more damn arguing. We'll deal with shit as it comes, like always."

"Oh yeah?" Kenny retorted. "What about when fifteen bandits hop over that wall in the middle of the night? You just gonna deal with that?"

"Everything that happens to us is another excuse for you to pull this crap about leaving," Lilly answered. "All I want is a week of peace; of not hearing it."

"We wouldn't even be fighting about our medicine if Lee hadn't fucked up downtown," Kenny told her.

"What do you mean?"

"Some girl came screaming out of an alley. She had dead hanging all over her," Kenny explained. "She was makin' enough noise that we would've had plenty of time to get what we needed. Instead, smart guy shot her."

"Instead of letting her suffer?" Lilly shot back.

"You guys couldn't try to save her?" Carley inquired.

"I couldn't let her suffer," Lee said in defense.

"We're all suffering," Kenny explained. "We've been putting our lives on the line doing these runs into the city. You wouldn't believe the shit we see."

"The fuck is going on in here?" Larry yelled, pushing Carley out of the way and causing her to stumble.

"Nothing, Dad. Don't get yourself all worked up," Lilly tried to calm him down.

"What the hell's all the yelling for, then?" he asked, glaring at Lee and Kenny.

"We're just arguing about supplies," Lilly told him, being somewhat truthful.

"Well I'm sick of all this damn arguing!" Larry said. "So everyone stop yelling at each other!" he yelled.

"It's fine, Dad, just go take a nap or something," Lilly replied. "I can handle this."

"Well, one thing for damn sure is we need to get the hell out of this motel," Kenny interrupted. "There's nothing in the city but walkers. It's hell on earth and it's coming this way," he said.

"IT'S NOT GOING TO BE ANY EASIER OUT ON THE ROAD!" Lilly yelled.

"What would you know?" Kenny questioned.

"What do I know?" she retorted. "I know somebody has been STEALING our supplies. Yeah, that's right, stealing. And I know the list of people I can trust here gets smaller every day!" she yelled again. "Now everybody GET OUT."

Everyone obliged, and Carlos went over to check on Sarah while everyone else stood outside of the room.

"She'll get over it," Lee announced.

"She's riling everybody up, otherwise," Kenny responded.

"We all understand, Ken," Katjaa turned to him.

"All I know is, whenever this shit happens, I'm the fucking bad guy. I'd like a thank you for once. FOR ONCE!" Kenny walked away, and after glancing at Lee, Katjaa followed her husband, probably hoping to talk with him.

"Oof. Things are coming to a head," Carley pointed out, walking next to Lee.

"You could say that," Lee agreed.

"Well, despite all that happened, I think you did good today," Carley praised. "And I find myself thinking that most days."

"Thanks."

"It's probably worth following up with Lilly about what she was saying about missing supplies," Carley added, and she reached up to caress Lee's cheek, which surprised him a little. "I don't want to see her paranoid."

"No question," Lee agreed.

"And I'd like to talk, when you've got a minute."

Lee nodded, and Carley began walking away. She went up the stairs, looking back at him with a smile. Lee turned toward Lilly's room, knowing that Carley was right. It might be a good idea to investigate.


	15. Investigations and Confessions

Lee pushed the door open to see Lilly sitting on the edge of the bed with her head in her hands. When she realized Lee was in the room, she looked up. "I'm sorry," she managed to get out while Lee sat down in a chair across from her.

"You don't have to apologize," he replied simply.

"Did you come in here to give me hell, or to coddle me?" she asked.

"You said something about stolen supplies?" Lee reminded her. "I think I should know what's going on."

"Things are missing, and I could use your help," Lilly spoke. "There's a traitor, one of us, somebody out there. He or she or they have been taking things," she explained.

"For real? Who? What do you have to go on?" Lee asked, looking up at the other woman.

"Yes, for real," Lilly confirmed. "And I don't have shit. I just know."

"Lilly..."

"The count's off and it's the good stuff. Antibiotics, oxy, fuck, anything with opium in it."

"I see the count, and it's fine!" Lee disagreed.

"I keep my own," Lilly pointed out. "That one's getting messed with. I'm not stupid; I know what happens when I start a witch hunt."

"So you want me to start one," Lee concluded, frowning.

"I want you to poke around."

Lee shook his head, momentarily closing his eyes. He opened them and asked, "What's there to go on?"

Lilly reached underneath her bed and pulled out a broken yellow flashlight, handing it over to Lee. "I found this tossed into the garbage," she said. "We don't toss out equipment. We fix it. You'd only try to get rid of a flashlight if you were using it when you shouldn't."

"Okay, I'll poke around a little bit," Lee answered. If there was a broken flashlight, what else could there be that was tainted with?

Lee stood up and exited the room, closing the door behind him when he heard a new voice. "A mystery!"

He turned to see Duck standing up, looking a bit excited. He crossed his arms and frowned at the little boy. "Jesus, Duck."

"I'm sorry, I heard you guys talking," Duck replied.

"You need to un-hear all of that," Lee said, turning to walk away.

"Can I help?" Duck inquired, running to catch up with the older man.

Lee turned around, "What did I just say?"

"You're the greatest detective, and I can be Dick Grayson, your ward!" he exclaimed, excitedly. Lee just stared at the little boy in annoyance. "That's Robin..." Duck smiled.

"I know who it is," Lee replied. "But you can help, so don't tell anyone," he warned.

"Secrecy!" Duck said excitedly. "What do I do?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Lee shrugged. "I don't know, go look around! Let me know if you find anything weird."

"I'm on the case," he said before running off.

Lee watched him run off, and put off talking to Carley for another few minutes. For now, he decided to ask around about the broken flashlight. He noticed Travis sitting near the stairs, keeping watch over Clementine and Sarah, who were coloring nearby, and decided to approach him.

"Hey, Travis," Lee greeted the raven-haired teenager.

Travis looked up. "Oh, hey Lee."

"Do you know anything about this?" Lee asked, holding out the flashlight for the boy to see.

"...It's a flashlight," Travis pointed out the obvious.

"Yeah, and it wasn't broken before. Was it you?"

"No. No!" Travis cried defensively. "I didn't know we had anymore flashlights. Honest. I think Lilly keeps the supplies."

"Okay, I believe you," Lee nodded. He placed the flashlight into his back pocket and continued on, next deciding to talk to Clem and Sarah since they were the nearest to him. He walked over and knelt by their little table. "Hey, girls."

"Hey, Lee," Clem returned the greeted, while Sarah merely looked at him and smiled. She thought that Lee was another one of the nicest people here, albeit they didn't talk much.

"You didn't accidentally break a flashlight, did you, Clem?" Lee wanted to know.

"No...did Duck say I did?" Clementine answered.

"No. Did, uh, Duck break the flashlight?"

"No...he's just always blaming me for stuff."

"Like what?"

"Putting a bug under his pillow," Clementine responded, almost in disbelief.

"Did you do it?"

There was a pause, and then Clementine smiled. "Yes."

"And I helped! Well...kind of," Sarah added. She looked around for a moment, then turned back to Lee. "Don't tell my dad, though."

Lee smiled. "I won't tell."

"Okay," Sarah grinned in return.

"I've gotta go talk to everybody else, I'll see you girls later," he said, and stood up.

"Bye Lee," Clem said.

Next, Lee decided that he should go talk to Kenny and Katjaa to see if they knew anything about the broken flashlight, or supplies. He walked over to where they were sitting. "Hey, how are you two doing?" he asked, looking down on them from where they sat.

"Just having a little spat," Kenny answered.

"About what?" Lee asked.

Katjaa sighed. "Well, we all carry guns now and I don't like it."

"It's the way it's gotta be," Kenny answered.

"I'm not gonna get used to it," Katjaa retorted. "I'm sorry, how are you Lee?" she asked, turning to the man.

"Do you guys know anything about this broken flashlight?" Lee inquired, holding it out for the couple to see.

"I saw some broken glass over by the ice machine," Katjaa pointed out. "I meant to clean it up before the kids hurt themselves on it. I forgot, though."

Lee decided to change the subject. "About the guns..."

"Don't you start," Kenny nearly scolded.

"I just have to say, Kat, that it's good that they make you uncomfortable," Lee turned to the blonde woman, folding his arms.

"Thank you, Lee," Katjaa told him, and Kenny sighed.

"But we need them," Lee continued, "there's no doubt about that." He paused. "I'll talk to you guys later." He walked off then, deciding to leave the two of them alone for the time being.

He decided to follow up on the broken glass that Katjaa was talking about, and headed over to the ice machine, however, before he could get there, Carlos stopped him. "Everything okay, Lee?" he asked. "You look pretty worked up about something," Carlos pointed out, looking a little concerned.

"I'm just checking on a few things for Lilly," Lee answered.

"Is she okay?" Carlos asked. "She seemed pretty angry earlier."

"You should go talk to her," Lee replied. "She thinks of you as a friend."

"Okay," Carlos nodded. He then walked away, and Lee proceeded to go to the ice machine. When he got there, he found that Katjaa was right, and there was broken glass laying on the ground. He picked up a small piece and placed it into the flashlight. It was a perfect fit. He followed the trail of glass, which lead him to an x drawn on the wall.

Lee frowned and ran his fingers onto the wall, some of the pink chalk scraping off. "Chalk..."

Duck suddenly appeared out of nowhere, frowning at the x himself. "Pink...hmm..."

"Duck..." Lee trailed off firmly, crossing his arms.

"A clue!" Duck exclaimed.

"Maybe..."

"What do you think it is?" Duck asked, a happy expression on his face.

"I don't think it's anything," Lee replied.

"Maybe it's a sign!" Duck guessed, still into his little game.

"It could be. It's pink chalk, which is...weird."

"Okay, back to investigating!" Duck cried, running away again.

Lee shook his head and decided that now might be a good time to see what Carley wanted. Since Carlos and Lilly were talking (and God only knew what about), he decided that he would let Lilly know of his discoveries in a little while.

He walked up the stairs to where she was standing on one of the balconies. "You wanted to talk?" Lee asked, looking over at the woman.

"What I wanted to say was, that I've been thinking about you, a lot," Carley replied.

"I think about you too," he smiled. He was sure that the sentence he just spoke had caught her off guard, because she didn't say anything back for a couple of seconds, but only smiled at him.

"Our group is small," she started.

"You're small," Lee replied playfully.

"You're a convicted killer." She spoke, making the tone serious now.

"Jesus, Carley!"

"And I think people should know..." she trailed off. "Not because they deserve to and not because you're a bad man. I think the opposite of those two things." There was a pause, and Lee frowned. "People need to know because we're hanging by a thread here, and I can't stand to see Lilly talk about you without thinking it's the next thing she's going to say. You don't have to tell everyone, but think about who you trust and take the opportunity while you have it."

Lee thought it over for a minute. He realized that it was important that people needed to know without someone, such as Larry, blurting it out to the wrong person. "You're probably right."

"Of course I'm probably right," Carley smiled back. "People might be pissed. And telling them might cause some trouble, but it'll be a far cry from what will happen if they don't hear it from you."

"Yeah."

"So you'll do it then?"

"...I'll let people know. You're totally right."

"Good. I think it's for the best." Carley looked at him for a moment, and much to Lee's surprise, she walked forward and kissed him on the cheek. "Don't call me small," she whispered before backing up again.

Lee smiled at her, before walking back down the stairs. He would ask her about the flashlight in a little while, but for now he needed to decide who he was going to tell as well as continue his investigation. There were some who were a bit questionable, however, such as Carlos and Katjaa.

But he knew that he should get the killer thing out of the way first, and he knew that the proper person to start with was Clementine. "Hey Clementine," Lee greeted.

"Hey Lee," she smiled in reply. Sarah was playing with Travis now, they were kicking a soccer ball back and forth, and it was good she was out of earshot. Lee figured that he shouldn't tell Sarah; he'd leave her dad to that. He was debating on even telling Travis, because he didn't know the teen very well.

"Whatcha working on?" he asked.

"It's a leaf rubbing!" She said proudly, holding up her work.

"Clem, I need to tell you something," He stated, getting straight to the point. She nodded, "The day you and I met, I was in a car accident," he started.

"Yeah, I remember!" Clem said. "Your leg was bleeding."

"The car I was in was a police car, and I was on my way to jail for committing a crime," Lee explained. "And I need to tell you now, because I don't want you to hear it any other way."

"Okay," Clementine nodded.

"Do you have anything to say?" he asked.

She shook her head, "I don't think so."

"You can, uh, go on back to your things." Lee noticed that if Clementine was surprised, she sure didn't show it. Perhaps it was because she had probably overheard Carley telling him in the drug store that she knew him, but that didn't matter right now.

Lee decided that it was probably crucial to tell the next person on his list: Kenny. He walked over to where Katjaa and Kenny were still seated on the outdoor couch, and greeted them.

"Hello, Lee," Katjaa addressed him.

Lee turned to the mustached man. "Kenny, you got a second? I need to tell you something."

"Sure, pal, what d'you got?" Kenny asked as he stood up. The two walked over to talk privately, and Lee noticed Carley watching from upstairs.

"It's serious," Lee replied, turning back to Kenny. When there was no answer, he continued. "I was...on my way to prison three months ago." There, now it was out of his chest.

Kenny's eyes widened. "No shit?"

"No shit."

Kenny paused, glancing back towards Clementine. "It wasn't for touching kids, was it?"

"Jesus, Ken!"

"What, I gotta ask!" Kenny defended himself.

"No, I killed a guy in a fight."

"Hmm...must've been a real piece of shit if you had to haul off and kill him."

"So we're straight?"

"Lee...look at what this shit has got us doin', and I'm sorry for whatever hell you may have been through," Kenny answered. "But yeah, we're 'straight.'" He then walked off to return to his wife. Lee couldn't help but feel a bit glad that it was off his chest.

He turned around and noticed Carlos leaned up against one of the poles, his arms crossed while he watched his daughter play with Travis. Lee sighed to himself, debating on whether or not to tell him; he knew how protective Carlos was of Sarah. But he had a feeling in his gut that he would regret it in the long run if he didn't tell him. The decision was finalized, so Lee began to walk over to the Hispanic man.

"Carlos, you got a minute?" Lee asked as he approached the man.

Carlos nodded, "Sure."

"Is Lilly okay?" Lee asked first, wanting to make a bit of small talk before he dove right into the conversation topic that he really needed to talk about.

"She's fine," He answered. "Just angry, but any normal person would be."

"Right," Lee agreed. "Anyway, I have to tell you something important since you're part of this group now."

"Okay," Carlos said. "What is it?"

Lee sighed, ready to get this over with. "When this all started, I was on my way to prison for murder." He said it so casually like it wasn't a big deal, but truth be told, Lee was nervous as hell because he didn't know Carlos that well in the first place. He didn't know how the man was going to react.

It was silent for a moment before Carlos spoke, "What the hell, Lee!?" he yelled, but tried to keep his voice down so that Sarah wouldn't hear them. "You're a murderer, and you've been hanging around my daughter like it's nothing!" His voice was getting a bit louder, and Lee didn't know what to say. "Why the hell didn't you tell me this when we joined the group?"

"I wasn't sure how you would react, or anyone else for that matter," Lee replied, knowing full well that Carlos would react like this. "It was an accident. The guy was sleeping with my wife, and I couldn't control my anger. I kept hitting him and didn't stop when I should have. If I could go back in time and stop myself from doing it, I would."

Lee turned around to make sure that none of the kids were in earshot, and luckily, none of them were. Carlos looked at the ground, his eyes squeezed shut. He massaged his temple.

"Look Lee, I don't think you're a bad guy... It's just, I wasn't expecting that from you," Carlos said, then chuckled. "I mean, you definitely don't look like a convicted killer," he joked.

"...Thanks, I guess?" Lee replied with a small smile.

"But still, this changes everything," Carlos added, "Don't take this personal, just stay away from Sarah until I know that I can trust you, okay?" he asked, still unsure of this. He didn't know if this was the right thing to do or not. But he wasn't going to risk things with Sarah anymore than he already was.

"I respect that," Lee said. "You're just being a good dad."

"So who knows?" Carlos asked, changing the subject.

"Everyone but Sarah, Duck, and Travis...I'm sure Kenny's told Katjaa already...And I don't know if I should tell Travis, I don't really know the kid that well," he answered Carlos honestly.

Carlos nodded. There wasn't much that he could say with telling Clementine since he had no control over that situation. "Okay. But...I am glad you told me," he said. "Please, though, hear my words."

"Don't worry, man, I will," Lee assured him. "I'll talk to you later."

"Alright."

Lee walked away, his next quest to find out more about the pink chalk. Talking to Sarah was out of the question at the moment, but maybe he could talk to Clementine about it. He glanced around, knowing there was still a lot that he had to do.


	16. Firefight

Lee continued his investigation, now wanting to find about the scuff of pink chalk that he had just found. Since he noticed Clementine coloring nearby, he decided to go back over to her.

"Hey Clem, do you have any pink chalk?" Lee asked, kneeling down beside her.

"No, it's gone somewhere," Clementine responded with a frown.

"Hmm." Lee made a note of what she said. If it wasn't Clem, then who else could it have been?

"Do you want blue?" Clem asked happily, hoping that he would play with her.

"No, no, it's okay," Lee answered. However, he had to admit that it was pretty cute of her to say that.

"Psst, Lee!" a new voice chimed in, and Lee turned around to notice Duck beckoning him over. He frowned, but he went over to the little boy anyway.

"I found something!" Duck declared.

"What is it?"

Duck pulled something very familiar out of his pocket. "I found this piece of pink chalk and a scuff of it over by the front gate!"

"Really?" Lee asked.

"Totally!" Duck exclaimed, "I was combing the scene for clues and-"

"Yeah Duck, I got it. Good job," Lee interrupted, and began making his way to the gate of the motor inn. He was surprised in the little boy's abilities. Duck run in front of Lee though, and proceeded to hold up his hand for a high five. Lee humored him, and high fived him in return.

"Cool!" Duck yelled.

Lee saw the scuff though, and decided to follow it outside the gate. He pushed the makeshift doors open, and headed outside the walls. "You stay here, Duck," Lee warned.

"Okay," Duck shrugged.

Once Lee was sure that Duck was staying put, he moved the dumpsters aside and was now just outside of the motel. He decided to turn left and walked down the path a little ways, until he came across sight of a grate. He saw something inside, and decided to take a look.

Lee removed the grate's cover and got a peek inside. There was a brown paper bag full of something, and much to his surprise when he opened it, he saw that there was a bunch of medicine inside, including some of Larry's nitroglycerin pills.

"Son of a bitch..." Lee muttered. He now knew that Lilly was right about there being a traitor, and quickly made his way back to her room.

Lilly was sitting on her bed, still looking stressed, when she noticed him. "You haven't come up with anything, have you?"

"I came up with this," Lee replied, handing over the bag, which she opened. "It's got a bunch of meds in it. It was in a grate on the outside wall and there's a sign on the other one."

"Holy fuck," Lilly glared at nothing in particular.

"Yeah."

"Okay, we line everybody up. Everybody," Lilly ordered. "Somebody is killing us. Stealing from that supply is the same as slipping into your room at night and cutting your throat while you sleep. You die. What is the difference? What if Clementine or Sarah gets sick and we don't have what we need? Or my dad's..." She looked out the window, and her eyes widened. "What the hell?!"

She stood up to look out the window.

"YOU DON'T FUCKING STEAL FROM US!" a man's voice was heard from outside Lilly's room.

"Who the fuck is that!?" Lee asked. "They've got our people out there!" he exclaimed. And he was right. There were men in masks holding the rest of the group hostage. Sarah could be seen crying and trying to reach for her father. "What do we do?" Lee asked, looking over at Lilly with frantic eyes.

"Oh, shit!" Lilly ran to get her gun. "They're gonna start kicking in doors any second."

"Lilly, what the hell are you-"

"Stall them," she said quickly.

"What?" Lee questioned.

"Keep them talking," she opened the window in her room to climb out. "Do whatever it takes to make him not shoot," she explained, and climbed out the window.

"YOU MADE THE BIGGEST MISTAKE OF YOUR LIVES!" the man yelled from outside again.

"Shit..." Lee barely managed to get out, but he knew he had to do it. He had to do it to save his group.

He walked out of Lilly's room, holding his hands up where the bandits would be able to see them. He knew how to remain calm in a situation like this, and slowly approached them.

"ENOUGH OF THIS BULLSHIT!" the man continued. "Drew, start putting your boot to these doors!"

"Yeah!" the bandit known as Drew cried.

The leader finally noticed Lee's presence, and pointed his firearm at him.

"Hold it, asshole!"

"Take it easy," Lee tried to reason. "We have more supplies. We can keep the deal going."

He noticed Larry giving him his "famous" glare, but the older man was smart enough to keep his mouth shut, considering that there was a gun pointed at the back of his head.

"Too late, shithead! We ain't giving second chances!" the leader shouted.

Carlos scanned around with his eyes when he noticed Lilly peeking out from an upstairs corner, but he couldn't turn to look at her in his position. But as quickly as she came, Lilly disappeared out of sight.

"It was a mix-up! We'll make it worth your while!" Lee insisted.

"I'm listenin'," the bandit replied.

"What will it take to reach a deal?"

"About twice as much as you've been giving us!"

"You got it! Done," Lee said, still with his hands up.

"Is that so?" the bandit asked. "Well... I suppose we better hash out some terms then," he added.

"I don't like no hash," another bandit interrupted.

"SHUT UP OR I'LL-" But he couldn't finish his sentence because Lilly had shot him in the head from where she was hiding.

"Christ!"

"Oh shit!" Somebody yelled as the group ran from the bandits and took cover from gunfire elsewhere. But it was like the bandits had back up, because before you knew it, they were everywhere.

"We gotta get out of here!" Kenny yelled to Lee.

"No shit!" Lee yelled in reply.

Kenny handed him a gun. "Get those bastards! Cover our people and get them to the RV!"

At that, he turned around and bolted into the RV, getting it ready so that the group could escape as soon as possible. Most of them took cover and hid wherever they could, while Lee and Lilly were in charge of shooting.

Two of the bandits snuck into the motel and took cover behind one of the couches. Lee peeked out from behind the RV and shot the first one square in the forehead. The second one, however, managed to find the hiding spot of Travis, Carlos, and Sarah, causing the young girl to scream.

Lee was shocked to see the bandit shooting Travis, killing him and getting his brains all over Carlos, who grabbed his daughter and ran as fast as he could into another hiding spot; which happened to be with Carley and Ben. Luckily, the following bullets missed both of them.

Lee noticed the same bandit trying to go over to the four of them, but he shot him before he could try anything. Ben, Carley, Sarah, and Carlos ran to the RV, hurrying inside.

"Travis-" Ben began.

"Get inside!" Lee ordered, and Ben obliged.

He then heard Katjaa's cries for help, and she was hiding with Duck and Clementine. He shot a few of the bandits that were hiding behind some metal barrels, to clear the way. But Lee noticed that walkers were starting to make their way inside the motel as well. "Katjaa, hurry, come on!" Lee yelled. Clementine didn't hesitate to run into Lee's arms, and then into the RV.

Suddenly, a walker then grabbed the back of Katjaa's head, causing both she and Duck to fall. Lee was able to shoot it, and Kenny came running outside. "Kat! Christ!" He exclaimed, running to his wife and son.

"Lilly, get your dad and get in the RV!" Lee yelled.

"Screw them! Let 'em stay!" Kenny yelled right back as he and his family climbed back in the vehicle.

But Lee wasn't going to leave anyone behind. It was bad enough that they had already lost Travis, so he began to shoot the walkers coming in the gate to buy Lilly and Larry some time.

"Shit!" Carley yelled from inside, grabbing her gun and getting out to help Lee fight off the walkers.

"Lilly! Last chance, get down here! Both of you!" Lee called upstairs.

Lilly looked around at what the motel had become ever so quickly. There were bandits and walkers everywhere; it was no longer safe.

"Shit! Dad, come on!" Lilly yelled, leading Larry away. The two of them managed to make it into the RV (Lee had to credit that Larry was faster than he looked) just as Kenny was beginning to get it into motion.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT BACK THERE?!" Larry screeched. From the back, Sarah whimpered and covered her ears.

"Dad, calm down, I'll handle this," Lilly chided gently.

"Kat! Jesus, are you okay?" Kenny asked frantically, as his wife's head had been busted open.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Katjaa tried to reassure him. She was holding Duck close in her arms.

"Oh shit oh shit oh shit...oh..." Ben muttered, holding his head in his hands. He clearly looked very distressed, as his friend had just gotten killed back there.

"Everything's fine, Ben," Carley tried to assure.

"No, everything's not fine," Lilly stated, "We need to figure out what the hell happened. We just lost everything."

Kenny interrupted. "Well, we're lucky as shit to have this RV!"

"Somebody in here caused this," Lilly said.

"Settle down back there! The bandits have had our number for weeks!" Kenny argued while he drove.

Lilly shook her head. "This is different. Somebody was working with them. Whoever it was, was slipping them our meds. They didn't get their last package so they attacked," she explained.

"Calm down back there, that's nuts!" Kenny said.

"Lee found a bag of supplies hidden outside the wall!"

"It's true," Lee added.


	17. Accusations

Lilly started the accusations. "So, Carley, is there something you want to say?"

"Please," Carley scoffed.

"So we have to get it out of you then?" Lilly questioned.

"Back off," Carley retorted.

"You're in no position to make demands." Her voice was low and firm, it was very intimidating.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you're just pointing fingers!" Carley's voice got louder.

"I've had my suspicions," Lilly replied.

"You know, this is probably not the best time for this," Kenny called from the driver's seat.

"If not now, when?" she questioned once more. "It's not like we've got somewhere to be."

Carlos cleared his throat. "Lilly, Kenny's right. Maybe we should settle this later," he suggested, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder in an attempt to get her to calm down a little.

Lilly turned to him. "Why? Was it you?" she interrogated.

"Me?" Carlos asked incredulously. "I thought you trusted me!"

"My daughter's right," Larry declared. "It probably was you! I don't trust no damn foreigners," he said as he stood up.

Sarah whimpered. "Dad, what's happening?" she asked.

"Why them? This just seems like a stab in the dark, Lilly!" Lee pointed out.

"You shut your fucking mouth!" Larry ordered, pointing at Lee with a large finger.

"Carley's always so eager to see what supplies we found," Lilly explained. "She never talks about her family. She could be related to those bastards for all we know!"

"Whoa, my family's not a bunch of meth-riddled forest people! They're fucking Lutheran!" Carley said in defense.

"You're not saying it wasn't you."

"It WASN'T ME."

"Look, maybe we should, like, vote, or something like that!" Ben spoke up, sounding nervous as ever.

"Vote? What?" Lilly glared at him.

"Just...look, Carley's a stand-up gal, and maybe this was all just a mistake!" Ben cried. "And Carlos couldn't have done it, either! He has Sarah!"

"Lee, what's going on?" Clementine was just as confused as Sarah was.

"I don't care, somebody here is a traitor, and we have to act now!" Lilly yelled.

"Nobody was stealing ANYTHING!" Ben cried.

"Was it both of you?" Lilly asked.

"The kid is acting pretty fucking weird," Larry added.

Carlos interrupted yet again, "And I did see Ben acting strangely a few days ago..."

"Why the hell is everyone throwing me under the bus?" Ben questioned. "Just let me out. I didn't do it, but I don't like this. I don't like where it's headed," he said, fear clearly written in his eyes.

"Look me in the eyes and tell me you didn't have anything to do with it," Lilly spoke slowly.

"Lilly, lay off of him," Carley defended.

"I..." Ben trailed off. "Please, Lilly! Can't we...can't we just let it go?" He looked at the older woman almost pleadingly.

"No, we can't," Lilly answered darkly. "My dad needs that medicine, not some fucking bandits in the woods!"

"Can't we deal with this later?" Carley asked, glaring in Lilly's direction. "All you're doing is accusing people! Why would anyone try to steal from us?"

"Carley's right, it could have easily been someone sneaking into our camp!" Lee interjected.

"Like hell we're dealing with this later!" Larry shouted, causing Sarah to squeak in fear and cover her ears. "I want to know just as much as my daughter what FUCKING shithole decided it was smart to give away our supplies!"

"Would everyone shut the fuck up back there?" Kenny yelled.

"Look, everyone just CALM DOWN!" Lee shouted over everyone. "We don't know who the hell stole the supplies, and what good is interrogating everybody going to do? Can't we go one damn day without arguing?"

"No, Lee! Damn it, we're going to find out who did this, right here and right now!" Lilly replied angrily.

Lee sighed. "Well, it's obvious that no one is going to give themselves up," he pointed out. "Just relax, Lilly, the truth will come out sooner or later. Whoever it is will crack." He really needed Lilly to just calm down for now. He especially didn't want anyone getting killed or hurt in front of the kids. It could wait, until the adults were alone, and then they could really talk about things.

"Lee's right," Kenny jumped in. "There's more important things to worry about anyway."

"Fine," Lilly spat. "But I will find out who it was, mark my words." She then went to go sit down beside her father. There wasn't much room in this tiny RV for everyone, so it was a tight squeeze. No doubt, this didn't help matters.

Sarah sat beside Lilly as well. "Are you okay?" she asked the older woman.

Lilly nodded, "Bad things just keep happening, Sarah," she answered.

"Is that why you said all those mean things to my dad?" the teenager asked politely. That question caused Carlos to look over at the two girls. Sarah honestly just didn't understand, and Lilly didn't give her an answer either.

"Lee?" It was Katjaa's voice. "A word, please?" she asked.

It was all quiet in a matter of seconds, so Lee decided to make his way to the front, glancing briefly at Clementine. He placed his hands on the walls and looked between Kenny and Katjaa.

"What's up?" he asked. He turned to Duck, and to his surprise, he looked rather sick. "Is Duck...feeling all right?"

Without a word, Katjaa reached down and pulled up Duck's shirt. Lee noticed that there was none other than a bite mark on his stomach, and he looked on with a horrified expression. What was going to happen now?

"What the fuck..." he trailed off.

"Happened during the raid," Kenny answered, not taking his eyes off the road.

"What's the plan? We've never had a bite victim in the group before," Lee pointed out. He made sure to keep his voice down just in case Larry heard them, but when he turned around, he noticed that the older man was sleeping.

Katjaa paused. "I'm going to keep an eye on him and see what I can do, from a medical perspective," she said. "I may ask Carlos for help, if I need it."

"We keep the same plan unless something changes," Kenny spoke up. "East."

"Guys..." Lee began.

"What else is there to do?" Katjaa asked. "We thought you should know."

Kenny glanced back at Lee. "Important to stay honest with each other."

"Anyway, if you and Carlos could tell the girls, we would appreciate it," Katjaa suggested.

Lee nodded once and saw himself out. He took a seat next to Clementine and placed an arm around her. Clem lay on Lee's stomach.

He hesitated before he spoke, but he knew that there was no way around this. "Duck is bitten," he said quietly.

"Huh?" Clem asked, looking up at Lee through her lashes.

"He got bit by a walker trying to escape the motel," Lee explained.

"I don't feel good," Clementine said softly.

"That's okay," Lee said gently. "Why don't you try to sleep, sweet pea? I know you're tired."

"Okay," Clem nodded, and closed her eyes. A few moments passed, and Lee could tell she was asleep because her breathing was soft and even. That's when Carlos found his way over to where Lee was sitting, and he sat down too.

"Is everything okay?" Carlos asked.

"Duck is bit," Lee explained. "Katjaa asked me to tell you so you could tell Sarah. And she might need your help later, you know, since you're a doctor," he added. He then looked over, and saw that Sarah was sleeping next to Lilly, who was asleep as well. Carley and Ben were about out too.

Carlos shook his head. "Sarah doesn't need to know."

"She's going to ask questions," Lee pointed out.

Carlos closed his eyes for a moment, knowing that Lee had a point. But he didn't want to approach his daughter and bluntly tell her that one of her friends was possibly going to die. He knew she wouldn't respond well to that.

"What are we going to do?" he inquired, changing the subject. "About this situation?"

"I don't know," Lee answered. "Katjaa wants to see what she can do."

Carlos nodded. "If she needs help, I can give it to her."

"Sounds good," Lee replied. There was no more conversation after that, and soon enough, everyone with the exception of Kenny and Lee was sleeping. Lee looked around until he heard Clementine make a little noise.

She jumped up, and somehow she had become a walker. But how?! When did she get bit?

"Shit! Clementine!" Lee cried, trying to push the growling walker version of Clementine off of him. "What the hell happened? GET OFF OF ME!" He continued pushing her until he heard someone calling his name.

"Lee!"

Lee gasped, and his eyes shot open. He turned and noticed the slightly worried face of Carley.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Lee looked down at Clementine, who, thankfully, was still sleeping beside him. He looked over at the woman and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Got something up ahead," Kenny interrupted them. Lee heard this and stood up, gently re-positioning Clementine so that she was laying down. He went to the front and noticed that there was a train coming into view. "Road's blocked."


	18. The Train

When Kenny stopped the RV, nearly everyone woke up. Sarah's eyes fluttered open; she had slept with her head on Lilly's lap, but the older woman didn't seem to mind. She sat up slowly and yawned, and walked over to Carlos.

"Daddy, what's going on?" she inquired.

"We have something in the way," Carlos answered. "But don't worry, honey. We'll figure something out."

Sarah nodded and followed Clementine out of the RV. Both of the girls stopped and turned when Katjaa and Duck exited from the front, an ever-so-weak Duck clutching to his mother. The girls looked at one another, and Sarah wondered what was wrong.

"Is there any way to get around it?" Ben asked.

"Doesn't look like it," Kenny replied. "On foot, maybe. Can't really afford to do that now."

"This seems like a pretty safe area," Lee pointed out. "Nothing will be able to creep through on us."

Kenny nodded. "Okay, everybody out of the RV then," he ordered, and watched as the remaining members of the group, Carley, Larry, Lilly, and Carlos, came out of the RV. The question still remained as to who stole the supplies, but it seemed to be forgotten at the moment with this new predicament.

"We should look around," Ben suggested.

Lee agreed. "Yeah, everyone else just relax. Clem, you stay close to Kenny and Kat, okay?" He said to the little girl. "You want to help us look around?" He asked, looking over at Carlos, who was talking to Sarah.

He nodded. "Sure."

"If you guys come across something to drink, I think Duck's a bit dehydrated," Katjaa said.

Carlos looked over at the woman empathetically. "Would you like me to take a look at him?" he asked.

Katjaa shook her head. "I think he's fine for now, but thank you."

Larry glanced over at the little boy suspiciously, but kept his comments to himself.

"Sarah, stay here with the others while I go help Lee with the train," Carlos turned to his daughter, who nodded obediently and went to sit between Carley and Kenny.

Carlos decided to go near the front while Lee examined the boxcar. Luckily, there was nobody inside, but there was a mattress that looked to be recently used. Had somebody made camp here? Whoever they were, they were gone by now.

Lee found a water bottle that looked nearly full, and he made a note to give it to Katjaa so Duck could have something to drink. He just hoped that Larry wouldn't try anything again if he found out.

Since there was nothing else of importance in here, he decided to head to the front of the train. Meanwhile, there was only short chatter between the rest of the group when they noticed an older man in a yellow jacket approaching them.

"Howdy, folks," he greeted.

A few of them stood up, and Larry gave him his all-famous glare. "Who the fuck are you?"

Carley began reaching into her back pocket for her gun in case this man tried anything funny. Sarah glanced around for her dad and noticed him by the front, but his back was turned.

"Whoa now, relax," the man said, holding his hands up. "I ain't here to hurt y'all." He turned and noticed Clementine, Sarah, and Ben. "You want some candy?" He began reaching into his pocket.

Clementine looked cautiously to Kenny, as if to ask for permission, and he nodded saying it was okay. "Sure!" Clementine said, and she, Sarah, and Ben walked over to the man to get the candy from him. "Wait," Clementine paused, "What about Duck?" She looked over at Katjaa who was clutching the boy in her lap.

Kenny shook his head. "I think he's okay."

Lilly stood up. "Okay, seriously, who the hell are you?" she asked.

"The name's Chuck," the man answered.

"What are you doing here?" Kenny asked.

Chuck laughed slightly. "I live here."

The group was still hesitant whether to trust him or not. He seemed friendly enough, but you could never know these days. People could turn on each other in just the simple heat of the moment situation.

"Are you a good guy, or a bad guy?" Sarah questioned, looking the man up and down.

"Definitely a good guy," Chuck answered.

Sarah smiled a bit at him as she opened up her candy, careful not to let it spill out. She followed Ben back to his spot, and the two ate their candy together. Clementine returned to her spot on the log.

"So...you're just out here on your own?" Carley inquired slowly, frowning. She still kept her gun in hand just to be safe. She looked around at the kids, and none of them seemed to have any reaction to any funny taste of the candy.

"Yup. Been on my own since long before this all started," Chuck nodded. "Just tryin' to make a living in here."

"Sorry to hear that," Katjaa said, still holding Duck close. He seemed to be getting more unaware of his surroundings.

"I don't trust this guy, Lilly," Larry spoke up then, glaring in Chuck's direction. "How do we know he's not here for any fucking funny business?"

"I don't know, Dad," Lilly replied. "We'll just have to keep an eye on him," she added.

Meanwhile, Lee and Carlos will still trying to figure out what to do with the train. They didn't know that Ben had ditched them to go sit with the rest of the group. They were at the front of the train, looking around. "I don't suppose you know how trains work, do you?" Lee asked, looking over at Carlos, and rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably.

Carlos looked over all of the buttons and controls. "I'm a doctor, not a train conductor."

Lee chuckled. "It can't be too hard though, right?" he asked.

"I'm sure we can figure it out, or find something to help us," Carlos said.

Lee didn't reply, and walked forward. Inside the front cab, he noticed what looked like a dead walker sitting in the driver's seat. "Shit."

Carlos came up behind him, and Lee continued, "We got one. Walker. Sitting in the chair. We got im'."

Carlos frowned. "It doesn't look to be alive."

Just for good measure, Lee took out a wrench that he had found in one of the train's compartments and hit the guy in the head, causing him to fall over.

"Suppose we ought to look him over," Lee decided, and Carlos nodded.

Lee grabbed the dead man and sent him toppling to the floor. Surprisingly, there was a large dent that took off a good bit of his head, and he seemed to be long dead by the way he smelled. Needless to say, it was a pretty foul smell. By looking at the bloodied glass window, it appeared that the guy had gotten himself into an accident.

"I don't think he came back," Carlos commented, pointing out the obvious.

"Christ," Lee muttered.

"Hey, got it working yet?" someone asked, and Lee and Carlos noticed Kenny walking up behind them.

"Not yet," Lee shook his head. "But I think we can."

"How the hell do we get it moving?" Kenny asked as he sat down at the driver's seat.

"We're still trying to figure that out," Carlos answered.

"Man, this could be exactly what we need," Kenny said, as he looked over all the controls.

"We'll keep looking around then," Carlos replied. He knew that there just had to be something here that showed how the train worked. A manual or something of that nature.

"Did y'all check in here yet?" Kenny asked, referring to the cab that they were in.

Lee shook his head. "Not yet."

"You should do that first then," Kenny suggested.

"Good idea," Lee said.

Ever so briefly, he looked around until he noticed a flashing button. "Hmm..." He debated on whether or not to push it. But maybe it could help the train work a little better? Slowly, he reached out and pushed the button.

This caused the engine to roar to life, making the three men jump.

"Holy shit!" Kenny exclaimed delightedly. "This fucker does work!"

"How are we going to get it moving?" Carlos asked. He then noticed a note page with a page ripped out, and picked it up. "The instructions must have been here, but the page was torn off," he announced unhappily.

Lee approached him and took a look. "I can kind of see the indentations, if you look closely enough," he said.

He then remembered the previous day when he watched Clementine draw leaf rubbings. She had used a pencil to make the leaf appear on the paper, so maybe he could try it too. Lee took out a pencil he had found in the RV and scribbled onto the paper.

"Perfect," Lee praised.

"You can read it now?" Kenny asked.

"Yeah. Should be able to follow the steps to get the engine on."

"Sounds good."

Lee looked down at the paper, then back up to the controls. He followed the instructions carefully, and pressed the buttons in the same order as they were on the paper. "Holy shit!" Kenny exclaimed. "Whatever you did lit the dash up!" he added.

"I've gotta go outside to do the rest," Lee noticed, remembering the controls he saw earlier when he was searching for tools. He headed out there, with Carlos following behind. He then opened up the compartments, and followed the instructions on the paper once more. And with that, the train roared to life.

Carlos looked shocked, "You did it!"

"Holy shit!" Kenny said as he walked out of the cab, "We're golden!" he smiled. "Let's see if she'll move."

He and Lee walked back inside, while Carlos went back to the others to check on Sarah.

"It's all yours," Kenny offered.

Lee pulled the throttle, and the train seemed to only moved some inches when they realized that they were caught onto something.

"Damn it!" Kenny nearly yelled. "Of course, we're still attached. Can you go find out where we're stuck, and get us UN-stuck?"

"Yeah," Lee replied. He wanted to leave in this train just as much as Kenny did. He exited the cab and made his way towards the boxcar, getting out of it the other way. He soon realized that it was the coupler that was still attached, and he used his spanner to pull it apart.

"There," he said. Then he called, "Hey, Kenny, we're loose!"

Lee made his way back into the boxcar and glanced at the mattress one more time before he heard a voice.

"You touch any of my stuff?"

He turned around and noticed the man the others had met, named Chuck.

"Who are you?" Lee asked.

"The guy that owns this stuff," Chuck answered. "I guess it's no worse for wear," he added. "Name's Chuck, Charles if you're fancy."

"Lee," Lee replied.

"That your crew outside?" Chuck asked.

"Yeah."

"And the guy up in the cab?" he asked again.

"Him too."

"I saw you walking through here and thought about scaring the pants off ya," Chuck said, smiling slightly.

"What?" Lee questioned.

"But I couldn't force myself to do it," Chuck continued.

"You're still kinda freaking me out..." Lee replied.

"Train folk'll do that," said Chuck. "Already met everyone outside; they all warmed to me right quick in direct sunlight. Well, most of them anyway." He had to be talking about Larry and Lilly in the last sentence.

He climbed out of the boxcar, and Lee followed. Clementine walked up to her guardian and smiled at him.

"You met Chuck!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, I did," Lee confirmed.

"It's so nice to meet someone normal for a change," Katjaa mused.

"He gave us candy. Ben, too!" Clementine chirped.

Lee turned and noticed Ben still chewing on the candy that Chuck had given him. The teenager looked up at Lee sheepishly. Nearby, Sarah was offering to share some of her candy to Carley, but the older woman kindly declined.

"Welcome," Lee decided to greet as Chuck stood up from the log.

"Thank you," Chuck replied.

"You met Kenny?"

"Sure did," Chuck answered, taking his seat again. "Man shares my love of the road."

"That's for certain," Lee confirmed.

Everyone then heard Duck begin to cough quite loudly. Larry glared, but surprisingly didn't say anything. Chuck on the other hand, went over to Katjaa and knelt down in front of her and Duck.

"I'm awful sorry your son's not feeling good," Chuck told her. "I'm sure with a little TLC he'll be fit as a fiddle in no time."

Katjaa smiled. "I appreciate your concern."

"And I can offer y'all whatever I got, although it ain't much," Chuck continued.

"Thank you. We'd like to do the same."

"Why don't we hold off on..." Kenny began.

"Stay with us. We'd like the company," Katjaa said.

"The hell we would," Larry muttered.

Kenny ignored him. "We don't got much left, so just gather whatever you have."

Everyone got up from where they were sitting, but Sarah and Clementine stopped in front of Lee and Kenny, both girls looking solemn.

"Duck's sick," said Clementine.

"Will he be okay?" Sarah asked.

Lee looked over at Kenny, who seemed to only look sad for a moment. "He should be fine, girls, don't worry," Kenny answered. "Get on the train." They obliged to Kenny's order, and got in the boxcar with everyone else. Katjaa and Duck were the last to come. "Let me look at him," Kenny said.

"He's getting sicker," Katjaa said. Kenny's eyes went wide, and he knew his son was getting worse by the moment.

"Let's just keep going," Lee suggested, knowing that Kenny and Kat were hurting right now.

Kenny nodded. "Alright. I'll be up front." He walked to the front cab with Lee following, while everyone else settled in back. Lee pulled the throttle, and the train slowly began moving.

Lee and Kenny smiled at one another for their short victory, but Kenny's smile was soon replaced with a cloud of sadness.


	19. A Day of Losses

The boxcar was relatively quiet for the most part as everyone sat around, or stood. Everyone kept taking glances of Katjaa and Duck, and by now, pretty much everyone knew of his situation. Nobody said anything about it though, because they knew, regardless of what measures were taken, what was going to happen to the little boy.

"Gotta be hard on ya, eh?" Chuck asked, breaking the silence between everyone. "Taking care of kids in all this," he added.

"There were more of us," Lee spoke, and then it was quiet again.

Meanwhile, Carlos and Sarah sat up against one of the boxcar walls, Sarah with her head in her dad's lap. Carlos didn't really want her to see what was happening to Duck, but what choice did he have? It's not like he could tell her to look away, especially when that was her friend.

He gently ran his fingers through her raven hair and sighed inaudibly. Although the boy was a tad annoying to him sometimes, he never did anything to deserve what he had coming to him.

The silence was broken when Duck began coughing again, but this time it was worse. He was coughing up blood. Carley looked at them sympathetically, then averted her gaze to the ground, massaging her temple.

"Lee. Lee! I need you, right now," Katjaa said, pulling the little boy closer to her. "I need you to go get Ken."

"What's-" Lee began, kneeling down beside them.

"Can you get that off his face, please?" Katjaa requested, referring to the bit of blood that had gotten into Duck's face. "My hands are full here."

Lee picked up a small towel that was in front of them and wiped the blood off of Duck's face. Katjaa thanked him in a sad tone. Lee looked down at the towel that now stained Duck's blood.

"He's out of time," Katjaa informed him. "We need to stop this train."

"Okay," Lee nodded.

"Please," Katjaa begged him with sad eyes. Lee obliged, and opened up the boxcar door, and headed to the front of the train where Kenny was driving. He knew that this wasn't going to be easy, because Kenny was in denial in the first place.

"You need to stop the train," Lee said in a serious tone, looking at the back of Kenny's head while he drove. Kenny merely ignored him though. "Kenny," Lee spoke again, and pulled out the bloody rag only to show it to Kenny. "KEN!" Lee said again.

"What the hell's that?" Kenny asked a little too nonchalantly.

"Your son's blood," Lee said solemnly. He knew that Kenny was trying to delay the inevitable, and he couldn't delay any longer.

"Get out of here Lee," Kenny warned.

"You KNOW he's dying," Lee said sadly.

Kenny sighed, "Nobody knows shit, he'll be fine!" he insisted.

"I'm sorry," Lee apologized, "I know I shouldn't be talking like that, but come on Ken. You know it's going to happen..." He trailed off.

Kenny turned around to look at Lee. "Go back there and tell my wife that he's going to be fine," he ordered. "Goddamn, what is the deal? He's a little sick, but still, it was just a scratch! He isn't like the others! Jesus, all y'all are just making it worse!" he yelled.

"Stop the train," Lee ordered slowly.

But Kenny ignored him, and pulled the throttle to make it go faster.

"STOP IT, GODDAMN IT!"

"Fuck you, Lee," Kenny snarled.

"You're gonna listen."

"Or what?" Kenny asked, getting up and staring at Lee face-to-face.

"Look, just calm down, and..." Lee began.

"How the fuck do you 'calm down' after a day like today?" Kenny demanded.

"By talking to your friend," Lee replied. What was the point of getting into a fight with Kenny?

Kenny sat down sadly, and Lee continued. "You think you're the reason Duck was bitten. Like you had this coming or something. You didn't kill Hershel's son."

"Yes, I did," Kenny answered, placing his head in his hands. "And it's catching up to me."

"You looked out for your kid, and a bad thing happened to someone else's."

Kenny was near tears. "There ain't no way this world lets my son live, when I helped put someone else's in the ground."

"That's not the way it works. You know that," said Lee. He placed a hand on Kenny's shoulder. "Stop the train, man."

Kenny looked on sadly, and pulled the brakes, sending the train to a skidding halt. He stepped off the train once it was stopped, and headed to the boxcar. Duck was laying down, and Katjaa was stroking his hair. "Ken, I think... I think it's time," she said sadly. And it was like the rest of the group knew not to interfere with this moment, so they stayed inside the boxcar, all of them, with the exception of Clementine.

Kenny looked over at Larry and Chuck who seemed to be having a discreet conversation, "The boy's been bit, in case you haven't figured it out."

Lee looked at Duck sadly. "Take as long as you need," he said to Kenny.

"There ain't no time left to take..." Kenny trailed off, voice breaking. He then looked to his wife, "What are we gonna do?" he asked sadly.

"We can't allow him to become one of those things," Katjaa said simply.

"But what if..." Kenny trailed off. "What if it doesn't?"

"Kenny, I love you very much. I love our son more than life itself." Katjaa sounded like she was going to cry at any moment. "I need you to hear me. What you're saying, that he may not turn, is foolish."

"But-"

"No!" Katjaa interrupted.

"There's-" Kenny tried again. "Come on, Kat."

"If you think of one, let me know."

"Isn't there a pill...something we can just give him..." Kenny said almost pleadingly. He glanced at Carlos for help, but he look on with a sad expression.

"Stop it."

"I mean, he can just drift off to sleep, right, hon? Jesus, I mean, this is our son!"

"I know!" Katjaa cried. "But it's...here," she pointed to her head, "or nothing."

"Just...who, then?" Kenny asked. "You want me to..."

"I'll do it," Lee jumped in. There was no way he would allow Kenny or Katjaa to have to off their son.

"No," Katjaa shook her head. "It should be a parent."

"No parent should have to do something like this," Lee said sadly.

"Lee's right Kat," Kenny agreed. "We can say our goodbyes, and just let that be it."

"I don't know..." Katjaa trailed off. She then looked up at Lee, "Lee, you'd be doing this family a great service," she said, then looked back down at her dying son. "Why don't we take him into the forest? So the girls don't have to see it..." she said, referring to Clementine and Sarah. Sarah was still tucked away in the boxcar with her dad, and Carlos was trying to comfort her.

"Just cover your ears sweetie," he whispered to her as he stroked her hair. "It's going to be okay."

"Yeah..." Kenny agreed, trying his hardest not to cry yet.

"Give us a moment to say goodbye?" Katjaa asked.

"Of course," Lee nodded.

Katjaa then picked up Duck, and began to walk a little ways into the forest with Kenny walking behind her. His breathing was shallow, and you could tell that death was imminent. "What's happening?" Clementine asked as she looked up at Lee.

"Duck is dying," Lee said simply.

"I know," Clem nodded. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm going to make sure he's okay." Lee replied.

"But, how?" Clem asked. "He's bitten."

"I'm going to make sure he doesn't come back." Lee answered honestly.

"...Oh."

"Look, Clem, things will-" Lee began, but an early gunshot cut him off, causing him to stand up. "What the?!"

"NOOOO!" they heard Kenny scream.

Something was wrong. Definitely wrong, and Lee had to find out. "Ben, take Clementine into the train," Lee advised the teenage boy. "Go, it'll be fine."

Ben lifted Clementine onto the train, where the others were wondering what had happened. Sarah had her face buried into Carlos' shirt, and the others just seemed confused and a bit surprised.

Lee ran into the forest, to the source of the noise, when a horrible sight lay out in front of him. Katjaa was on the ground with a gunshot wound to her head, and her eyes were wide open. She had killed herself.

Kenny was looming over her frantically, tears pouring from his eyes. "Kat! Kat! Katjaa!"

Lee looked on in horror, then at Duck, who was sitting by a tree and taking his final breaths.

"Why, Kat? Honey...oh, fuckin' God," Kenny whispered, then began to sob over his wife's dead body.

"Oh my God..." Lee trailed off sadly.

Kenny slowly reached out and closed Katjaa's eyes. With tears still fresh on his cheeks, he looked over at his son. He would be losing both Duck and Katjaa in a matter of minutes. There was no doubt he was going through hell.

He picked up the gun and stood up, looking at his son along with Lee. Duck's shallow breathing was heartbreaking to listen to.

"What do we do?" Kenny asked after a long pause.

Again, there was no way that Lee would allow Kenny to do something like this, especially after his wife had just committed suicide moments earlier. He turned and gave Kenny a solemn look. "Give me the gun, Ken. I'll do it."

Kenny barely nodded, and handed the gun to Lee, then walked away. Lee looked at Duck sadly, and held the gun up to his head. He waited for the little boy to stop breathing, and then took the shot, preventing him from turning into a walker. The gunshot rang throughout the air, and then it was quiet. Lee couldn't believe what had just happened. Kenny looked over at Lee with his tear-stained cheeks, and then they walked back to the train.

"Everybody back on the train," Kenny said sadly, and he returned to his position at the front of the train. Lee knew that he would probably want to be alone for a while. The group obliged, and headed back into the boxcar, taking their positions. The group seemed a lot smaller now, without Katjaa and Duck.

"I knew that kid was bitten from the beginning," Larry muttered mostly to himself.

"Don't you think that's a little harsh, Dad?" Lilly asked, but received no answered.

Sarah lifted her head out of her father's shirt as the train began to move again. "Is it over, Daddy?" she asked, and you could tell she had been crying too, because there were teardrops on her glasses.

"It's over, sweetie," Carlos assured her, pulling his daughter closer to him.

"Duck was my friend," Sarah whispered.

"I know." Carlos kissed the top of her head.

It was silent then, at least for almost ten minutes. Lee and Ben had gone outside, possibly for some air. Carlos looked over at Lilly, who was staring out the boxcar door with her arms folded. He wanted to talk to her, and wanted to know why she had suspected him.

"Stay here with the others, Sarah," Carlos directed, and she nodded, sitting Indian-style in the corner. He slowly approached Lilly, ignoring the glare that her father was giving him. "Lilly, I need to talk to you. Privately."

"The fuck do you mean privately?" Larry sneered.

"Dad..." Lilly warned cautiously, then turned back to Carlos. "Sure. Let's go outside."

Carlos, nodded and led Lilly outside, just a little ways from where Ben was standing. "Now, I don't want to come off as harsh, but I want to know why you would suspect me of stealing the supplies. Do you really think that I would do that when I have a daughter that I'm trying to protect?" He moved out of the way so that Chuck could get by.

Lilly hesitated before she answered, "Don't take it personal, Carlos." Her gaze softened. "I have nothing against you or Sarah, I was just blinded with anger. I was so pissed I couldn't think straight. To me, at that moment, it could have been anyone," she replied.

"You really scared Sarah," Carlos said, crossing his arms. "And you know how she is."

Lilly frowned. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." She then sighed, "After what you did for my dad, I owe you my life, Carlos. I would never do anything for you to not trust me."

"Yeah well, it was pretty close back there in the RV," he replied.

"I can understand that," Lilly replied. "But truthfully? My main suspect is still Ben." Here, she nodded towards the teenager standing a couple of yards away. He didn't seem to hear what they were saying. "He's been acting strange since you guys came around."

Carlos turned around and glanced at Ben. "He has. But he or whoever has been doing it will come to their senses," he tried to assure Lilly.

"We'll see," Lilly answered. She crossed her arms and glared at nothing in particular. "Look, again, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have suspected you, I know that." This was definitely a rare side to see of Lilly, since she normally didn't apologize for the things she did. "When people are pissed, they won't think before they act."

"No, they won't," Carlos agreed. This sort of reminded him of Lee killing that senator, but he didn't want to think about that.

Lilly's gaze then softened once more. "How's Sarah doing? Is she okay, well, since...Duck, and Katjaa?" she asked, lowering her voice.

Carlos sighed. "I don't know, I want to say she's okay, but honestly, I just don't know."

"I could try to talk to her?" Lilly offered.

"That would probably help, thank you," Carlos said with a small smile.

"Okay," Lilly nodded.

Carlos chuckled. "We should probably get back in there, so your dad doesn't kill me."

"You know, after saving his life, you'd think he'd be a little bit nicer to you," Lilly joked.

"It's nothing to worry about," Carlos replied with a small smile. He opened the boxcar door for Lilly, and they both went inside. Of course Larry was there with his usual pissed-off expression, but the doctor ignored him.

He also noticed that both Sarah and Clementine looked somewhat frightened, but he wasn't sure what the problem was. Lilly knelt down in front of Sarah and began speaking softly to her. Luckily, the teen wasn't crying, but her bloodshot eyes said that she had probably finished a short time ago.

"Are me and Clementine gonna die?" Sarah asked quietly.

Carlos frowned, especially when Clementine turned around for the answer. Lilly seemed confused as well.

"Why do you ask, sweetie?" she inquired.

"Because Chuck said that what happened to Duck would happen to us," Sarah explained, looking at her lap and playing with her hands. "He said we were gonna die."

"What?" Carlos asked almost furiously.

"He really said that?" Lee asked.

Clementine nodded. "Uh huh."

"I'm gonna go talk some sense into him," Lee said.

Carlos nodded, "I'm coming too, Lilly, watch Sarah," he said, and both he and Lee went to find Chuck who was at the front of the train.


	20. Child Survivors in Training

Lee and Carlos walked out of the boxcar and to the front cab, passing Kenny who was in undeniable grief. Chuck was standing at the front, watching the long road ahead. Both men were furious that he would even look at their girls the wrong way.

"Hey," Lee was the first to speak, and he was not the least bit happy.

"How're you folks doin'?" Chuck asked, seemingly oblivious that he had done something wrong.

"We don't care what reasons you had for doing it, no reason to go and tell our girls they're gonna end up dead!" Lee reprimanded, folding his arms.

"What you said was inexcusable," Carlos added. "You especially scared my daughter in particular."

"I meant what I said, 'cause they are," Chuck said, not sounding even the least bit sorry. "Now I don't know much about you folks, but I can tell you, sure as the sun's gonna come up tomorrow, that if y'all keep goin' on like this, and those girls ain't gonna make it."

"What do you know?" Lee asked, still a little angry.

"I will protect Sarah no matter what," Carlos added.

Chuck sighed, "I know that you don't have damn plan. What happens when we get to Savannah?" he questioned.

"We'll do what's best for the girls," Lee answered simply.

Chuck laughed, "Oh! So you do have it all figured out," he said sarcastically. "Look, I don't care if you take my advice or not, but you two need to sit down with those girls, hash it out, come up with some kind of damn plan if y'all want to survive. And somebody needs to teach 'em how to use a weapon for Christ's sake," he said, a little too nonchalantly as he looked up at the two men.

"Sarah will never have to touch a gun as long as I'm around," Carlos replied.

"Oh yeah? And what if you're not around?" Chuck retorted, which caught Carlos off guard.

"Nothing like that will happen to either of us," Lee shot back.

"But if it were to happen," Chuck interrupted, "you gotta prepare the girls. Teach them to use a weapon, and for criminy, cut their hair."

"They're little girls," Carlos replied bitterly, none too happy that this old man was basically dissing his parenting skills.

"They'll die little girls if you treat them that way," Chuck answered. "You gotta consider them living people. That's it. You're either living or you're not. You ain't little, you ain't a girl, you ain't a boy; you ain't strong or smart. You're alive." There was an uneasy pause. "Look at their hair. Find some scissors in my pack and take care of it before a walker does it for you. And then show them how to use a gun, because that's what saves your life from here on out."

Carlos looked away and scratched his chin, looking very stressed. No doubt he was feeling conflicted about the whole situation. While Chuck's words made complete sense, he didn't want his daughter to lose her innocence.

"Look, I don't mean to tell y'all how to do your job, but too many people have died already," Chuck pointed out.

"They have," Lee agreed.

"And seein' another little girl die might just do me in."

"It's good advice..." Lee trailed off, "Don't you think so, Carlos?" he asked, but Carlos was still too busy thinking about Sarah. Would she even want to learn how to use a gun? Because he definitely didn't want to force her. And he knew already that he was going to have problems with the haircut.

"Huh?" Carlos asked.

"It's good advice," Lee repeated.

"For you, maybe," Carlos replied. "But my daughter, she is not like Clementine."

"But she's still a human being," Chuck pointed out, "You can't just leave her helpless forever, she's gotta learn how to deal with things on her own," he added with a shrug.

Carlos scoffed, "I apologize, but I don't think I should be taking parenting advice from a homeless man and a murderer."

"Suit yourself," Chuck shrugged.

"Yeah," Lee added. "Do what you want."

Carlos sighed, and turned back around. "I will meet you halfway," he said. "I'll give Sarah a haircut, but a gun...I just don't think she's ready. As her father, I would know." Without waiting for a reply, he exited the front and began making his way back to the boxcar.

Lee shook his head, and decided to make small conversation with Chuck "So, where you headed?"

"Uh, that way," Chuck nodded forward.

"I mean, when we get to Savannah."

"Got a few ideas," Chuck answered. "We'll have a talk when we get there about whether or not you folks want company."

Lee decided that he would talk with Chuck later, and that he would begin teaching Clementine the basics of survival. "Be safe up here," he said, and turned to exit. He debated on talking to Kenny, but decided that it was best to leave him alone for now.

He was about to enter the boxcar when he heard another voice. "It was me."

"Huh?" Lee asked, turning around to look at Ben.

"I was the one giving the bandits supplies," Ben confessed, his head still in his hands.

Lee's eyes went wide. "WHAT?" he asked again.

"It's all my fault," he continued to talk.

Lee's eyes went wide once more, and he didn't know what to say except, "Jesus, Ben..."

"I know," Ben said sadly. "They sad he had my friend, said that he was with them." he tried to explain.

Lee shook his head, "Just, stop...can we even trust you?"

"Yes!" Ben nodded.

"Why'd you have to go and tell me that?" Lee asked, shaking his head.

Ben hesitated before he answered, "...I just-"

"No!" Lee almost yelled. "Just don't tell anybody," he warned. "You can't take it back, so just don't."

"Okay," Ben nodded solemnly.

Lee turned around, not wanting to say anymore, and headed back into the boxcar. Carlos apparently hadn't said anything to Sarah about the haircut yet, because she didn't appear to look upset...yet. Surprisingly, things were quiet.

"Hey, Clem," he greeted, standing over her nearby.

"Did you talk to him?" Clem asked.

"I did. He explained himself, and, uh, made some good points," he explained. "Look, we're not gonna let anything bad happen to you or Sarah, but there are some precautions we have to take."

"Okay, yeah, that makes sense," Clementine replied. She seemed to understand.

"Precautions?" Sarah asked, looking over at Carlos.

"We need a plan for when we get to Savannah," Lee said to Clem, "teach you how to protect yourself, and, uh, tidy you up a bit so you can't get grabbed so easily."

"I'd like that," Clementine smiled.

Carlos looked over at his daughter seated beside him, knowing that she wasn't going to handle the next words too well. "Sweetie..." He took out a pair of scissors. "I'm afraid you're not going to like this, but...we need to cut your hair."

Sarah's eyes widened. "But...why?" she asked. She began patting all around her hair, a little afraid. "Is my hair stupid? Is it ugly?"

Everyone else in the boxcar thought that Sarah's words were funny, well, except Larry. Carlos chuckled. "No sweetie, it just needs to be short so bad people can't grab it to hurt you. Clem is going to get hers cut too."

"I am?" Clementine asked, grabbing her head.

Lee nodded, "Remember when Andy St. John grabbed it, and I got mad?" he asked.

Clem nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, I don't want that to happen anymore."

Sarah whined again, "We're going to look like boys, Clem!"

Lilly chimed in, "No you won't. There are lots of girls with short haircuts," she informed them.

"And you'll be safe," Carlos reminded her. "It won't be that bad, okay? I promise."

"Fine," Sarah huffed.

"Who's going first?" Lee asked.

Clementine looked at the ground and pouted, but gave in. "I'll go. Just a trim, right?"

"I need to cut it short enough so that it can't get grabbed," Lee told her.

Clementine sighed. "Okay."

"Mind if we do this now?"

"I guess not," Clementine said sullenly.

"Don't mope. It's a good thing."

Lee turned to Carlos and held his hand out for the scissors, and the Hispanic man handed them over. Clementine got into a comfortable position before Lee began trimming. "Do you know how to do this?" she inquired.

"How hard can it be?" Lee answered as he snipped a few times.

"So you did kill someone before," Clementine said, trying to make conversation. "I'm glad you finally told me."

"Me too, Clem," Lee said almost nonchalantly.

"You've killed lots of things now; it doesn't even matter."

"Killing is bad, no matter what."

"But you do it now, to protect yourself, and to protect me," she replied.

"It doesn't make it good," Lee said, and little did he know, Carlos was listening in on his conversation. The Hispanic man decided that Lee wasn't so bad after all. Hell, he was good around Clementine, and she was younger than Sarah, so maybe he could trust him around Sarah.

"But you have to," Clem pointed out.

"I do it, because it's necessary. And walkers aren't people," he answered while still cutting her hair. It was really short now. "Okay, I think I'm about done. I can tie these pieces up with something." He said, finishing up.

"Here," Clem said, reaching into her pocket, "I have some hair thingies." She handed a few to Lee. "Sarah can use some, too." Clem then reached up to feel her hair, and her eyes widened at how short it was. "Does it look dumb?" she turned to Lee and asked.

"You look cute," Lee replied, "and a lot harder to grab."

"It looks good, Clem," Carley told her with a small smile.

"Yeah, you look awesome!" Sarah added.

"Alright, Sarah, it's your turn," Carlos said, taking the scissors back from Lee.

Sarah had nearly forgotten that she was also getting her hair trimmed, and looked down sullenly. She briefly turned around to face her father. "You won't cut it too short, will you, Dad?" she asked.

"It won't be too short, but like we said, this is for your safety," Carlos assured her. He took a lock of her hair and began snipping. Sarah sat crisscross style in front of him with her arms folded. She wasn't happy about having her hair cut, but she would do it if she wanted to be safe.

A couple of minutes passed before Carlos was finally done. Like Clementine, Sarah had two very small pigtails on either side. Her hair was still slightly longer than her friend's, though.

"Now we match!" she said to Clem excitedly.

"So what's next?" Clementine asked, looking up at Lee.

"We need to have a plan when the train stops," Lee said.

"That sounds like a good idea," Clementine nodded. "Are we still going to look for my parents?" she asked.

Lee nodded. "We can."

He stood up. Finding the map could wait, but now it was time to teach Clementine how to use a gun. "You need to know how to protect yourself," he said firmly.

"About fuckin' time," Larry grumbled under his breath.

"Like, hiding or running away? Got it," Clementine nodded.

Lee turned to Carley. "Car, do you mind if I borrow your weapon for a bit?"

Carley seemed to know what he wanted to do, and fetched it from next to her. "If you need any tips, let me know," she offered.

Lee nodded, and showed Clementine the gun. "I mean with one of these," he told her. When he noticed her apprehensive look, he continued. "First, don't be afraid of it, it's just a thing. Take it. But know where your finger is all the time, and don't put it on the trigger unless you want to hurt somebody."

"Should I listen too, Dad?" Sarah asked Carlos quietly.

Lilly looked over at Carlos. "She should know this too, Carlos...You're not going to be here to protect her forever," she pointed out. Carlos sighed, and he knew Lilly was right. As much as he hated the idea, he knew that Sarah was going to have to learn to use a weapon sooner or later. So what if it was sooner rather than later?

Carlos looked down at his daughter. "Do you really want to learn?" he asked her.

She nodded. "It is a little scary, but kinda..." she trailed off.

"Then I will teach you," he replied. "But you have to be really careful."

"Okay," Sarah said, and she watched as Lee gave Clementine a gun.

"See?" Lee asked. "It's not so scary."

"It's heavy!" Clem said.

"You'll get stronger," Lee replied. He bent down to her level. "To aim, you look right down the top, through that notch." Clementine turned around, and Lee stood up. "Line up the site of the end with your target."

"Is there anything else I should know?"

"When you're ready to shoot, make sure you're not breathing too hard, and then hold your breath right before you pull the trigger," Lee instructed.

"Like, when I'm swimming?" Clem asked.

"No, just for a quick second. I found that if I did that, I was a lot more accurate. It's tough, but it'll help."

Lee walked over and pulled out an empty wine bottle, setting it on top of a box. Clementine was already trying to aim, and Lee walked behind her. Everyone else watched intently with the exception of Larry.

"Good. Don't lock your elbows," Lee instructed, loosening her said body part. "Okay, let's take your first shot. Squeeze the trigger smoothly, and I'll cover your ears. Nice and easy."

"Nice and easy..." Clementine repeated slowly. She fired a shot, which missed and caused her to squeak. "EEK!"

"You okay?" Lee asked.

"My hands hurt," Clem answered. "I don't like this, let Sarah go."

"We have to stick with it, okay?" he replied with a small smile.

"Do I have to?" she pouted slightly.

"Yeah, you do," Lee replied. "Let's try again," he said, and she turned around to aim at the bottle once more. "Aim left," Lee said, guiding her. She held her breath momentarily, and fired the gun again, this time, hitting the bottle, causing it to shatter.

"I got it!" she said excitedly.

"Good shot," Lee praised.

"Good job Clem!" Carley congratulated.

"Okay, let's do it one more time," Lee said. He walked over and placed another bottle onto the box, and walked back over to Clementine. "Aim to the right this time," he instructed. "Okay, now a little higher."

Clementine fired the gun again, and the bottle shattered.

"There you go, nice!"

He placed yet another bottle onto the box, and this time, Clementine shattered it without any instructions. She turned around and grinned at Lee. "I did it!"

"Yes you did, good job!" Lee praised.

"I just pretended they were walker heads," Clementine told him.

"Good, just like you should."

"They're not walkers, though."

"No, far from it. But now you know how these things work. We'll graduate you to walkers one day."

She handed Lee the gun back. "Is Sarah going to go now?" she asked.

Lee shrugged. "That's up to Carlos." He looked over to Carlos, who then nodded.

"You ready?" Carlos asked Sarah.

Sarah nodded, "If Clem can do it, I can do it," she said determinedly. Lee then handed the gun to Carlos, and he gave Sarah the same instructions.

"You watched Clem, right?" Carlos asked.

"Yes," Sarah nodded.

"Then do it just like her, okay?" Carlos ordered as he went to go stack a another bottle up. He then handed Sarah the gun, and lined her aim up. "Shoot when you're ready, okay?" he told her as he covered his daughter's ears.

Sarah took a short breath and aimed carefully, then squeezed the trigger. She missed, but the bottle did fall over to the side, meaning that she was very close for her first try. She looked up at her father with panicked eyes. "I...I missed..."

"That's alright. You were very close, and making a mistake is part of learning," Carlos told her. He returned the bottle to its standing position before walking back over to her. "Try again now. Aim higher, a little more to the right."

Sarah obliged, and much to everyone's surprise, the bottle shattered the second time she pulled the trigger.

"Did you see that?" she exclaimed, looking at Carlos excitedly. Carlos still didn't like doing this, but he hoped it would ensure that his daughter would be safe.

"Good job," Carlos praised. "Let's try a few more," he said and stacked up a couple more bottles. Much to his surprise, Sarah was able to aim and shoot them on her own. "Wow, I'm surprised you're so good at this," he chuckled, "But remember, you only have to do this if someone is hurting you, okay?"

Sarah nodded, "Okay, Dad."

"But you did good," he praised once more.

"She's a natural," Carley added, causing Sarah to beam.

They stopped right there, which was a good thing because there were only a few bullets left. Lee exited the boxcar and returned a couple of minutes later with a map. He sat down with Clementine and began to discuss their plans for when they got to Savannah.

"OH, SHIT! HOLD ON, EVERYBODY!" Kenny yelled, and the train stopped almost abruptly, with Carlos and Lee grabbing their respective child and protectively keeping them steady.


	21. New Faces

The train came to an abrupt stop, and everyone got off to stand outside. They couldn't believe the sight that they saw in front of them. "Holy shit..." Carley said as she looked up at the mess in front of them. A tanker truck had fallen off the side of a bridge, and was just dangling there.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" Kenny yelled angrily. Carlos covered Sarah's ears.

"Maybe we could walk?" Ben chimed in.

Kenny shook his head, "That's fucking stupid, Ben."

"It is pretty damn dumb," Larry added.

"Dad!" Lilly chided.

"I'm just saying..." Ben trailed off.

"Hm, I don't know about y'all's fortitude, but we could probably deal with this," Chuck commented. "I mean, we got a damn train."

"That thing's not full of milk, Charles," Kenny said. "It's gotta be gas or diesel. Something that's gonna explode."

"You gotta get a hold of yourself," Chuck reprimanded. "This is a crew here."

Kenny started to approach, getting in the older man's face. "This is-"

"Yo! You keep screaming like that, you're gonna get your face chewed off!"

This was a new voice. The group looked, and the person who had spoken was a rather short man who looked to be Persian-American. With him was a taller African-American woman, who was looking at them suspiciously.

"Are you guys going to be trouble? Because we could have just kept walking," the woman called down.

"No, we're friendly!" Lee shouted back. He turned to his friend. "Put your hand down, Ken."

"That's what everybody says," the woman continued.

"We know."

The two people on top of the bridge spoke to one another briefly, then the man called down to them, "You guys got a problem with your train?"

"Yeah. You're standing right in front of it," Kenny replied cockily.

"Kenny..." Carlos chided.

"Dude, it's a wreck! It's not so bad from up here!" the man yelled. "Send your buddy up to have a look."

Lee began to walk forward, until Kenny stopped him. "Anything goes sideways up there, we won't let them escape." Lee then made his way to the ladder that allowed you to climb up onto the bridge. He proceeded to climb up it so he could talk to the new strangers.

"If I come up there, you better not be murderers or thieves!" he warned.

The woman replied, "I guess you'll have to find out."

As Lee climbed up, he heard the two conversing. "A group of guys is what we need!" he heard the man say.

"It's what you think we need!" the woman replied. "We're doing fine on our own."

"Yeah, for now," the man said. "What about when...?" But he left his sentence hanging because Lee had finally made it to the top, and had approached them eagerly.

"Hey dude, I'm Omid," the man said.

"Lee," Lee introduced himself.

"Christa," the woman said. "What's the deal with the train?" she asked.

"We're driving it," Lee answered.

"Oh, MAN!" Omid exclaimed, and Christa playfully rolled her eyes. Omid seemed to have a love for trains.

"Look, you wanna help us out? We could use some able bodies, and..." Lee trailed off. "Yeah, we really need some help."

"What's in it-" Christa began, but she was interrupted when they all saw Clementine climbing the ladder after Lee. Carlos had told her to stay put, but she wanted to see what her guardian was doing.

"Oh, shit!" Omid cried. "Goddamn, you guys have a kid!"

"What are you doing up here?" Lee inquired.

"Do you know how long it's been since I've seen a kid?" Omid continued excitedly. "Shit! What's your name?"

"Clementine," Clementine introduced herself with a smile, stepping forward.

"Oh, so he gets to swear," Lee playfully scolded, crossing his arms.

"This is great!" Omid nearly shouted. "See? Things are looking up!"

Christa narrowed her eyes at Lee. "You're not her dad, is he down there?" she asked.

"It's that obvious?" Lee asked.

"To me," Christa retorted.

"And no, he's not down there," Lee answered. "But we do have another kid down there with her dad," he said, referring to Sarah.

"Hm, so what's your story?" Christa inquired curiously.

"I came across Clementine when this all started..." Lee answered. "I was actually incarcerated."

"Sick, do you have any prison tats?" Omid asked, smiling.

Lee shrugged. "Didn't make it that far."

"And everybody down there, they're cool?" Christa asked, referring to the rest of the group.

Lee looked back down at his group and sighed, "Kenny just lost his wife and kid..." he trailed off. "But everyone else is okay."

"How long ago?" Omid asked.

"Maybe two hours ago?" Lee replied.

Christa sighed. "Goddamn..."

"We're sorry for anything that's happened to you guys," Omid said sympathetically. "That train is awesome, though," he changed the subject.

"That tank is your real problem," Christa added, turning around to look at it. "We'll help you with it, but if we see anything we don't like, we're moving on down the road. Alone."

"We'd appreciate the help," Lee smiled.

"Can't just blast through it, I guess?" Omid inquired.

"If you could get it down, the rest of it would probably be pretty easy," Christa explained.

"We'll start there," Lee told them.

"We'll come down and settle in, and see if we can help."

Lee, Clementine, Omid, and Christa walked down the ladder and over towards the group.

"Who the hell are these two?" Larry demanded.

"Guys, this is Omid and Christa," Lee introduced them, ignoring Larry.

Everyone else only eyed them, and Sarah hid behind Carlos, curious about these new people. They could never be too careful, especially after the St. Johns incident.

"Not big on welcomes," Omid noted, scratching the back of his head.

"Like I said, we could use some good people," Lee added.

"We just wanted to say hi, and your train is pretty cool," Omid said, trying to make conversation.

"The plan is to cut that tanker down and be on our way," Lee explained.

"Seems like plan enough to me," Kenny commented.

Omid looked over at Lee, "You want to start in on that tanker?" he asked.

"I'll get to know the girls a minute, if you don't mind?" Christa looked over to Lee and Carlos.

"And why don't I show you how this thing works in case something happens," Kenny added.

"Really, Ken?" Lee asked.

"It's probably for the best," he replied. "Someone might wanna have a look inside that station back there too," he continued as he climbed back up into the train cab.

"Sounds great, let's do this thing," Omid smiled.

He followed Kenny into the train cab to learn the controls. Chuck got out his guitar and began playing it, while everyone else sat on the ground (Christa, Sarah, and Clementine were seated a little ways, however). Lee began to look around until he noticed a train station up ahead.

"Can I follow you over there?"

Lee looked down, and noticed Clementine approaching him eagerly.

"You don't like the new girl?" Lee asked. This was rather quick, if you asked him.

"I do. But...it's like we're a team, like you said," Clementine explained as Lee knelt to her level.

"Yeah, all right. Come on," Lee said, and stood up. "Clementine and I are checking out this train station, all right? Hustle over if you hear anything," he announced to the others.

The two of them walked over to the station, where the words "Survivors Inside" were painted on the roof. Clementine noticed a door in the corner and ran to it, while Lee slowly followed.

"You should wait for me before you try to open doors," he reprimanded.

"Sorry," said Clementine.

"Luckily, it's locked. We'll get better at working together."

Clementine nodded and walked away from the door. Lee tried opening the door, but to no avail. He looked up and noticed a window that appeared to be open.

"Maybe I can look in?" Clem suggested.

Lee nodded. "Yeah, I'll put you on my shoulders and you can look in."

"Sounds good." Clem agreed. Lee then hoisted the small girl up to stand on his shoulders so she could look in the window. "Okay, I can see in. What do I do now?" she asked.

"What do you see?" Lee asked.

"Lots of crates and stuff," Clementine answered. Lee then began rambling about picking the lock and whatnot, but during that time, Clem reached down into the window and unlocked the door. "I think I opened it."

"For real?" Lee said incredulously.

"I think so!" Clem replied. He then helped the little girl down, and they were able to open the door.

"Well I'll be damned..." He trailed off.

"Let's go," Clem said, "Be careful."

Lee smiled, "I'm supposed to tell you that." The two then walked into the station together, and the door closed behind them. "Goddamn it's dark in here," he noted.

"Maybe I can hold the door open?" Clem suggested.

"I don't like that," Lee said. "I'll find something to prop it open." He then reached into his pocket and pulled out the wrench that he grabbed from the train earlier and sat it in front of the door. It seemed to work at the moment, so he left it there.

"Okay, what do we need?" Clementine asked.

"Something to help us deal with that tanker," Lee told her, and they began looking around the station.

Meanwhile, Sarah was still talking to Christa, and Carlos and Lilly were standing nearby.

"So, you have a baby?" Sarah asked as she looked at Christa with careful eyes. Sure, she was thirteen and all, but her dad really hadn't explained to her how all that happened.

Christa nodded, "Yeah, inside of me," she answered.

Sarah smiled. "That's so cool! Is it a boy or a girl?"

"It would still too early to tell, but I guess now we have to wait until he or she is born," Christa explained. "Omid, the man I'm with, he wants to call it Omid Junior, but I think one of him is enough."

"He seems really nice," Sarah replied with a small giggle. "Do you guys have any other names in mind?"

The two of them mainly talked about the baby, which Sarah seemed really excited about even though she had just met Omid and Christa. So far, she seemed to like both of them, although she had yet to talk to Omid.

Carlos walked up to them at that moment. "How are you doing, sweetie?" he inquired.

"I'm okay," Sarah smiled. "Christa has a baby inside of her."

"She does?" Carlos asked.

Sarah nodded, and looked back over to Christa, "And my dad is a doctor! He can help you with your baby."

"This seems to be working out great, then," Christa smiled.

Back at the station, Lee and Clementine were still poking around, and that's when Lee spotted a blowtorch. "That's exactly what we need," he told Clem.

"Over there?" she asked.

"Yeah, we need to get in there and get that blowtorch," he said. Unfortunately, it was locked behind a caged wall. "The door is locked, but there seems to be some space at the top," he noted.

"We're lucky I'm so little," Clementine smiled.

"Yeah," Lee smiled back. He then hoisted Clem on her shoulders once more, and boosted her over the fence. "Go on and grab the keys, Clem," he said, but the little girl seemed to be frozen.

"Go on, scoot," Lee continued, frowning.

"Behind you!" the little girl warned.

Lee turned around just in time to see two walkers coming right for him. He noticed the wrench that held the door open, and began to back away to get it, having to punch the two walkers a couple of times in the process. When he got to the wrench, he picked it up and hit the first walker until it was dead. The other walker lunged right for him, but he started to hold it back until he heard a gunshot.

He turned, and there was Clementine, holding out the gun with shaky fingers. Apparently, it had dropped into the cage where she was.

"It's okay, it's okay. Everything's fine," Lee assured as he walked forward.

Clementine lowered the gun, but the growl of another walker could be heard, this time from inside the cage. Lee noticed this and yelled, "KEYS! NOW!"

The little girl ran to get the keys, handing them to Lee, who unlocked the cage. He placed an arm around her and shot the walker dead.


	22. Back on the Road

Once all the walkers were taken care of, Lee put his weapon aside and panted. "Man...that was close."

"That didn't go so good," Clementine commented.

"No, that did NOT go so good," Lee agreed. "But it's okay. We're okay. What did we learn?"

"I'm not ready for a gun," Clementine replied sadly.

"We learned not to be afraid," Lee corrected her. "They should have got us, but we got them. Your quick thinking saved us both, Clem. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm a little shaky," the little girl answered.

"What's going on? I thought I heard a gun!" Christa said, running into the station, alarmed.

"We're fine!" Lee replied. "We found some walkers..." he added as Christa looked around the room.

"You, and an eight-year-old versus three of them, huh?" she questioned.

"We handled it," Lee said simply.

"Clearly," Christa replied. "I'm gonna go make sure the noise didn't cause us any problems," she said, turning around.

"That's a good idea!" Clem jumped in.

Christa then walked to the door, but stopped, and turned back around to glare at Lee, "I hope you know what you're doing with her," she stated, with bitterness in her voice.

"We're still alive, aren't we?" Lee asked, shrugging slightly. He could see Christa roll her eyes, before not saying anything, and walking out the door. What was her problem? Lee thought he was doing a great job with Clementine.

Lee looked around the small area before he and Clementine made their way back to the others as well. He approached Omid, who was having a lighthearted conversation with Sarah. The young teen seemed to like him quite a lot.

"I found a blowtorch in the station," Lee announced. "Should make quick work of the coupling up there."

"Excellent!" Omid praised. "I'll come up there with you to have a look." At that moment, he climbed up the ladder with Lee following close behind.

"You think this will work?" Lee asked.

"Dude, you're cutting metal with fire! How could it not?" Omid replied almost nonchalantly.

Lee walked over to where the tanker was stuck, and got the blowtorch ready. He turned it on, and nothing was coming out but hot air. He realized that there was a leak in the hose. "Shit."

"What's up?" Omid inquired.

"The hose has a leak in it."

"T-Turn it off, dude. I don't want my eyebrows burned off. You better plug that leak with something."

Lee looked around and saw a truck nearby, luckily when he searched it, there was some tape inside of it. That should work to plug the hole, right? He then wrapped the tape around the hose, "Hope this holds..." he mumbled mostly to himself, then turned the blowtorch back on. He was glad that it worked, and began to cut the metal.

"That is crazy! Look at it go!" Omid watched in amazement.

"Just about got it," Lee replied. And suddenly, the truck behind him was inching forward, and if it wasn't for Omid running and pulling Lee backwards, he would have gotten hit and slung off the bridge. "Whoa, thanks man." Lee said.

"No sweat," Omid replied.

Lee stood back up and observed the tanker again. "This thing is hanging by a thread, one more cut and it'll go."

He looked at the tanker now, knowing that it was too far to reach at this point. There was only one thing left to do, he realized, and that was to get Omid to do it, by holding on to him. He approached him, holding out the handle.

"Here, the weak portion of the coupling is out of my reach," Lee explained.

"You think it'll be within mine?" Omid scoffed.

"No, but I'm gonna dangle you over that ledge."

"The hell you are!" Omid exclaimed.

But there was no time for arguing, and Lee ended up having the dangle Omid as the shorter man began cutting the tanker off.

"God, you're a real son of a bitch, aren't you?" Omid asked.

"Shut up and start cutting."

A familiar growling noise was heard in the distance, and Sarah turned around. With a gasp of horror, she tugged on Carlos' jacket. "Dad...Dad...th-there's-"

Ben heard this and turned around, squinting out in the other direction. When he realized what it was, he called up to Lee and Omid, "Guys...there's something coming!"

"What?" Omid asked.

Lee looked up and saw all the walkers coming, "There must be thousands..."

"Hurry up guys!" Carley yelled.

"WE GOTTA GO!" Ben yelled, running back to the train.

"Fuck, Omid... CUT, CUT!" Lee yelled.

"I am!" Omid had yelled back in defense. "It's going, pull me up!" The tanker then fell to the ground, and Lee pulled Omid back up on the bridge.

"Kenny, GO!" Lee hollered, signaling for Kenny to start the train. The rest of the group hurried and ran to climb back on the train, leaving Lee and Omid stuck on the bridge.

"Shit, what do we do now?" Omid asked.

Lee looked down and noticed that the tanker was leaking. "Hope to God this works..." he said and kicked the blowtorch of the bridge and into the gasoline that leaked out of the tanker, starting a fire. He then ran to the other side of the bridge where the train would be coming. "We gotta jump!"

"What?" Omid questioned. "NO way!"

Lee glared at him, slightly annoyed by his stubbornness. "Fine, you stay up here while we go with your lady."

"The hell you are!" Omid cried. This caused him to jump down, but unfortunately for him, his leg landed hard on the roof of the train, and he fell over.

"SHIT!" Christa yelled.

Lee jumped down secondly, and luckily, he was unscathed. He got into the train, with Omid and Christa running (or limping, in Omid's case) alongside. Since he was injured, Lee grabbed Omid's hand and pulled him into the train first.

"No, HER! Not me!" Omid cried. "Christa, NO! FUCK! You piece of shit, she's a woman! Don't you know-"

But he was interrupted when Christa was able to pull herself onto the train, and Omid was relieved. "Baby..."

"It's okay, honey. I'm okay," Christa assured him.

Lee looked outside, where the walkers were still attempting to give chase. But of course, they weren't getting to anybody. The boxcar door opened then, and Clementine was the one standing on the other side.

"Are you hurt?" she inquired.

"No," Lee replied.

"Speak for yourself, my leg is fucked!" Omid shouted.

"We're fine, Clementine," Christa said, "we're fine."

Carlos spoke up at that moment. "We don't have much on us, but perhaps I can take a look? I'm a doctor."

"Go ahead," Omid replied, and Carlos obliged, and began prodding around at Omid's wounded leg. "Ouch!" He winced.

"Sorry," Carlos apologized, "It's not broken, but it came quite close...you probably won't be able to walk on it for a while."

"Great," Omid said sarcastically.

"But we're almost to Savannah!" Clementine added happily.

"Yeah..." Lee trailed off, "Everyone should get some rest now though...it's been a really long day." The majority of the group obliged, finding a place in the boxcar to lie down. Larry though was already asleep. Lee then took this time to head up to the front of the train to check on Kenny. Surprisingly, that's where Clementine chose to sleep.

"Next stop, the Atlantic," Kenny spoke quietly.

"We have to find a boat," Lee agreed. "We just have to."

Kenny nodded. "We will."

"You'll be alright," Lee said sadly.

Kenny sighed, "I'll be alive, I guess. Blood in my heart, blood in my brain at least."

Lee quietly walked over to Clementine. "She's out cold like I've never seen," he commented to himself. He looked down at her backpack and noticed a drawing of Kenny, Katjaa, and Duck inside of it.

That was when he heard a static noise that caught him off guard. He picked up Clementine's walkie-talkie. There was a voice on the other side, but the words were unclear. But just for a moment.

"Can't wait for you to get to Savannah, Clementine," the voice said. "I've got your parents right here! And you be sure to find me whether Lee wants you to or not. Now, what I need-" But the voice was cut off with another static sound.

Lee looked at the walkie-talkie in shock. But Clementine had said it was broken; that there was no contact on the other side.

"Holy shit..." Lee trailed off.

"I thought that fucking thing was broken!" Kenny cried.

"So did I..." Lee replied. "Who the fuck was that? If he's convinced Clementine he has her parents..."

"Well, it sounds like somebody knows where we're headed."

"Who the fuck..."

"I don't know, but I doubt we're going to be happy when we find out."


End file.
